Utilities worry about a lot of things, such as keeping the lights on, earning a return for investors, and making regulators and customers happy with their service.

Now there is a new worry: How can they protect customers from what one utility refers to as “mental fatigue?” (more…)

Americans tend to beat themselves up over their imperfections. We eat too much, watch too much TV and owe China too much money. Despite all of our sloth, we can feel good about one area: our progress saving energy.

A report issued this week by the Institute for Electric (more…)

Minneapolis electronics retailer Best Buy announced last month it is launching a new Home Energy Management Concept. In addition to an “online learning center,” stores in select cities (Chicago, Houston, San Carlos, Calif.) will have an “in-store experience,” complete with demonstration vignettes for a touch and feel (more…)

U.S. utilities are getting smarter, and smart grids are making the difference. This theme permeated the recent Autovation 2011 conference in suburban Washington, D.C., which provided an overview of trends and recent developments.

How smart? No one from the utilities admitted (more…)

In a previous post, I wrote about Texas smart meter company TransData‘s patent infringement suit against CoServ, a Texas utility.

TransData recently extended its patent enforcement activity from Texas in an easterly direction through the southeastern United States, filing complaints (more…)

Utilities are often dismissed or ignored in most discussions of energy efficiency and green building  I find this quite remarkable.  First, many state laws mandate that utilities engage in energy efficiency efforts.  Second, as utilities are directly connected to the energy consumer, utilities are often (more…)

While the U.S. is known around the world for innovative companies like Google and Facebook, there is a new vanguard of American companies creating and exporting clean energy technologies,” said Jim Kapsis.  His company, OPower, an (more…)

Are your solar panels looking a little grimy? No worries, there is now a team of seasoned professionals to do that cleaning for you.

Solar Maid, a one-of-a-kind New Jersey company, first began in 2003 but didn’t receive the boost it needed until 2008, when the solar industry really took off.

(more…)

When will the maturation process take hold for the global Home Energy Management market? The answer to this question and more will be answered in an upcoming report published by Pike Research, “Home Energy Management.” Some initial thoughts are as follows: (more…)

And now for a dose of reality.

No doubt smart meters are a good thing, but even their most ardent fans must admit that a degree of hoopla surrounds these little digital boxes. We hear that if consumers can just see how much power they use in real time, and what it costs, our energy woes will be no more.

Smart meters will even cure the blind. The energy blind that is.

“It can be difficult to separate the hype from legitimate claims,” said the American Council for an Energy- (more…)