U.S. Smart Grid 2010: Year of Consumer Electricity Meter Controversy

Looking back at the US smart grid market over the past year, we can see that 2010 is almost the year of the “consumer.” In the “GridWeek 2010” conference held at the smart grid related conference held in Washington, DC, USA from October 18 to 21, 2010, there were many topics related to consumers and smart grid. “In the history of GridWeek, this was the first consumer-centered conference,” several industry players said in unison.

One of the main reasons for the smart-grid market to start paying attention to consumers is opposition from consumers in California and Texas who actually import smart meters. More and more consumers are complaining about the rapid rise in electricity bills since the introduction of smart meters. In addition to complaints from consumers, in October 2009, customers of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E), a well-known California power operator, filed a lawsuit against the company regarding the introduction of smart meters. In March 2010, Oncor, a well-known Texas power company, was also sued for the same reason.

In addition to the lack of confidence in the accuracy of smart meters, there is a growing number of consumers who are starting to worry that the use of data sent by smart meters will cause personal privacy violations. This issue has also been raised on the “TeaParty” political event that represents the Republican Party.

In this case, the California and Texas Public Welfare Commission commissioned third parties to evaluate the accuracy of smart meters. The evaluation results show that the accuracy of smart meters is very high. Thanks to the results of this evaluation, reports on the “friction between smart meters and consumers” in the major news media in the United States have gradually fallen short.

However, the impact of the industry and the government did not calm down. To realize the strengthening of power grids that both parties hope, the introduction of renewable energy resources, and the popularization of electric vehicles (EVs), the introduction of smart grids is indispensable. If the energy savings at the customer end cannot be achieved through smart grid support, new electronic power generation equipment may also be required. Due to consumers’ opposition to smart meters, the introduction of smart grids has changed from a technical issue to a more difficult issue related to consumer-related policies and action psychology. Under such circumstances, power companies and related companies in the smart grid industry have started to collaborate with design firms with extensive experience in consumer-oriented product design.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of smart meters and consumers, the merger of HEMS companies needs to strengthen the HEEMS (Home Energy Management System) technology that connects the smart grid and users. Since entering 2010, venture companies engaged in HEMS technology, especially those that can turn consumer's electricity consumption into a "visual" user interface (UI), have attracted more and more attention. Well-known companies Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. of the United States have also begun to enter this field.

This situation seems to continue in the future. At the end of 2010, companies planning to enter the HEM market began to face this issue and merged. For example, in October 2010, Tendril, a venture company engaged in HEMS, acquired GroundedPower, a US-based venture company. In addition, it also received additional investment of US$2.3 million. In December 2010, Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary company of Motorola, Inc., acquired 4Home, a venture company in the United States. In addition, in November 2010, the GE Electrical Appliances and Lighting Business Unit of General Electric, a well-known energy company, announced that it will establish a HEMS-related business unit.

In view of this, it seems that there will be many topics related to the US HEMS market in 2011.