Comments on: Google Slowly Adding Users for Energy Tool PowerMeter

By: California’s Smart Meter Battle: Google vs. Utilities « Attorney Don Hecker Release

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:11:21 +0000

[...] either as stand-alone products or bundled with home broadband offerings or security systems. Google is working with utilities and smart meter maker Itron, but is also partnering with in-home energy devices from Energy Inc. and AlertMe with its [...]

By: California’s Smart Meter Battle: Google vs. Utilities

California’s Smart Meter Battle: Google vs. Utilities — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:01:10 +0000

By: Get Your Open Source Home Energy Developer Kit, Courtesy of People Power

Get Your Open Source Home Energy Developer Kit, Courtesy of People Power — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:06:25 +0000

[...] Mainstream consumers are largely not yet interested in buying home energy management gadgets, and Google’s web energy tool PowerMeter has only signed up a couple thousand users by early [...]

By: Google Releases API for Energy Tool PowerMeter!! « Anil's Blog

Google Releases API for Energy Tool PowerMeter!! « Anil's Blog — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:34:02 +0000

[...] end users via new gadget partners. PowerMeter only has “a few thousand users at this point” Google told us recently. And opening up the API will also allow third party developers to “innovate in the field,” as [...]

By: Google Releases API for Energy Tool PowerMeter

Google Releases API for Energy Tool PowerMeter — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:00:36 +0000

By: Home Camp news roundup « Home Camp

Home Camp news roundup « Home Camp — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:40:09 +0000

[...] perspective on why Google’s PowerMeter is one of the shorter kids in the class. Still, slow-growth could be beneficial to working through the niggly little problems that usually [...]

By: Count the Ways to Connect Consumers to the Smart Grid

Count the Ways to Connect Consumers to the Smart Grid — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:15:44 +0000

[...] are other ways to do that. Google’s PowerMeter energy interface is working with utilities and smart meter maker Itron, but is also partnering with in-home energy devices from Energy Inc. and AlertMe, which can be [...]

By: Brendan

Brendan — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:14:12 +0000

Interesting article.

I would have thought the biggest reason why utilities don’t want to promote Google PowerMeter too much is that its a tool that will help people use less energy, which will mean less revenue for them. Its a good tool for utilities to perhaps attract fresh customers, but probably not one they want to market heavily to their existing ones.

Its interesting that they have so few customers trying it out at the moment. I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard for google to increase their numbers if they wanted to. I guess its just not a priority at this moment.

We reviewed it here, if anyone is interested:
http://www.plentyways.com/blog/2010/02/hands-on-with-google-powermeter-and-alertme/

By: Hands on with Google PowerMeter and AlertMe | PlentyWays Green Blog

Hands on with Google PowerMeter and AlertMe | PlentyWays Green Blog — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:32:58 +0000

[...] they have very different energy needs. They revealed earlier this week that they only have “a few thousand users” currently, but that is sure to grow now that they have device partners like AlertMe and [...]

By: Cali Utilities: Get Ready to Give Your Customers Smart Meter Data!

Cali Utilities: Get Ready to Give Your Customers Smart Meter Data! — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:28:53 +0000

[...] and ensuring that third parties like Google are verified by customers to get the data. So far, Google’s utility partners have signed up only a few thousand customers to test PowerMeter — a sign, perhaps, of the complexities [...]

By: Rise & Shine: February 5, 2010 | Sweet Solar Home

Rise & Shine: February 5, 2010 | Sweet Solar Home — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:20:20 +0000

[...] INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS Google Slowly Adding users for Energy Tool PowerMeter PowerMeter has close to a dozen utility partners it’s working with that have millions of [...]

By: Will

Will — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:19:10 +0000

I completely agree with your last point, and wonder if at some point we may have to give up on relying on utilities to implement anything remotely “smart.” A better option, it seems, would be to focus more on consumer home energy monitors like the TED 5000 (one of Google’s earliest device partners). They may be pricey for the average (read: non-”green”) consumer, but I think we’ll see them become much more affordable in the next year or so.

A promising device I’ve just discovered is WattVision – you clip it to your meter and it automatically uploads data to a sleek web interface. A guy I work with recently got a promo model and has a review here: http://www.energycircle.com/blog/2010/02/03/toms-new-crush-the-wattvision-energy-monitor

Compared to dinosaur utilities, I think clever start-ups like this are much more likely to be the ones driving real innovation.

By: Peter Troast

Peter Troast — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:15:12 +0000

Katie–

You’re absolutely right that one of the key barriers to growth of PowerMeter use is the utility channel–as you’ve pointed out often, they’re just slow and cumbersome. And customer communications and outreach, well….isn’t their strong suit.

The other half of the story, though, is that there’s currently only one approved consumer device that’s integrated–the TED 5000–and it’s been sold out since October. The good news is that the supply issues have been largely resolved and we’ll be shipping backorders and have plenty of inventory shortly.

More info on availability here: http://www.energycircle.com/shop/ted-5000-c-with-google-power-meter.html

In addition, there are other consumer devices pending Google approval that will further expand the user base. Stay tuned for more on this.