Blog
Pushing the Green Button for Energy Savings
January 25, 2012The New York Times recently released an article about a new initiative currently being promoted by the White House to "bring together the nation's utilities, energy consumers and private industry to develop Internet and mobile phone-style technologies and business models aimed at reducing energy consumption." This new program called the Green Button initiative would essentially allow households to view their energy usage in a standard format that can be immediately downloaded from the internet using an app. This would then allow homeowners to monitor and gain greater control over their usage, thereby saving them money and reducing waste.
California's three major utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison, have become the first utility companies to announce their support for Green Button. Together, the three companies serve more than 10 million households. Aneesh Chopra, Obama's chief technology officer, predicts that more major utility companies will follow their lead. Although the Obama administration supports this new initiative, it will be up to private industry to continue this endeavor.
Simple Energy, a large utility company, recently demonstrated its online program by turning energy management into a competition. 200 residential customers in the Texas and San Diego area took part in a three-month energy savings contest last fall; the average monthly savings wass 20 percent. The winner reduced her energy usage by about 45 percent and even won a laptop computer.
Although the Green Button initiative is far from being implemented, hopefully utility companies will participate and support this new endeavor. For more information and to read the rest of the article, go here.