Electric Co-op Today

Modern demands for energy and increased concerns about available resources are changing the way consumers view their home energy use, according to panelists at the GridWeek 2011 conference.

Second-grade teacher, Elizabeth Schenck (right) shows students how an energy monitor works in her Stafford Township, N.J., classroom. (Photo By: Associated Press/Asbury Park Press, Tim McCarthy)

Many consumers, they said, now want to know the true costs of the comforts they enjoy at home and at work.

“What people understand is money,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, during a forum entitled, “Empowered Homes and Businesses.”

Fedrizzi told the audience that rapid changes in technology are creating a shelf life crisis for many developing technologies which might not gain acceptance and could disappear.

“We don’t have the luxury anymore of thinking toward this 15-year horizon,” Fedrizzi said.

Other panelists said while modernizing the nation’s energy grid represents opportunities for greater efficiency and diversification of energy resources, more emphasis has to be placed on those who ultimately will shoulder the costs.

“We have to make sure there is good value incentive for the homeowner,” said Paul Nagel, vice president of engineering for Control 4, a company that builds and markets home automation products.

As consumers turn to devices designed to control lighting, appliances, household electronics and other systems, they will want to see verifiable savings, said Nagel. “It’s got to get a lot simpler to understand than it is today.”

While devices available now can provide a wealth of data, interpreting how changes in behavior and the scheduling of specific activities will maximize savings can be complicated and frustrating.

Many consumers lack the patience or the interest in making the calculations required to benefit from time-of-use and other tiered-pricing methods. Those are among the models now being adopted or considered by investor-owned and municipal utilities and some electric co-ops.

“The customer has got to come to the table,” said Doug Kim, director of advanced technology for Southern California Edison’s transmission and distribution business unit. “We’ve got to figure out a way to get them involved.”

Kim and other panelists compared the state of system automation control devices developed for smart grid applications to the cellular telephone market that existed in 1996.

Most of the phones that were available then were for business use, said Kim. “Then the technology exploded and they became consumer items.”

A generational shift in energy use is already under way, said Nick Sinai, a senior advisor to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, citing consumer behavior patterns promoted in schools.

“Recycling took hold with students first and now it’s gained widespread acceptance,” said Sinai. “We could very well see the same kind of shift in energy use.”

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Tags: Consumer-Members, Energy Efficiency, GridWeek Conference, Smart Grid