Reaching mainstream consumers is critical in the evolution of...

Reaching mainstream consumers is critical in the evolution of the smart grid ecosystem, said attendees at Parks Associates’ Smart Energy Summit in Austin, Texas, this week. “How do we get to mass?” said Kris Bowring, senior director of emerging business for Best Buy, who told us the retailer is testing “very basic” energy management products including thermostats, electronic locks, Internet gateways and cameras in 45 stores to gauge consumer interest and willingness to invest in energy management products. The trial stores were “picked for different reasons,” Bowring said, to determine how energy is consumed and generated and how advanced the utilities are in particular markets. “We mapped to stores that were already doing energy efficiencies and energy savings,” he said. Bowring wouldn’t say when the products will go national. “You're seeing the evolution of the technology now, and then we're trying to help the consumer understand how and why this is important, what’s available to them and how it can simplify their life,” he said. One of the biggest challenges for everybody in the smart grid chain is “making it simple and relevant through education and understanding,” Bowring said. For energy management to hit the mass market, “it must be independent of the smart meter but also able to work with the smart meter,” he said, so when consumers receive smart meters from the utility, they'll be able to understand their consumption in relationship to demand. “The meter has to be paired and information exchange needs to happen,” Bowring said, and when consumers can see how their choices affect energy use, “that will change their behavior,” he said. He described the expected progression as “peeling the onion": Once consumers understand what they can do with technology, “they'll want to know what else they can do.”