By Michaline Todd | June 3 2010
Americans think highly of their electric utilities, according to a smart meter survey just released by the Boston Consulting Group. So highly, in fact, that over three fourths said “ their power company would be a credible provider of in-home services linked to smart meters, such as time-of-day pricing and remote appliance management.”
Here are some additional highlights from survey of 1,700 U.S. electricity customers conducted in December 2009:
75% of respondents are interested in easy ways to save power,
Two-thirds said being able to estimate their monthly energy bill on a daily basis would help them better manage their power usage,
Less than half said they have heard of smart meters,
Only 15% consider themselves ‘very aware’ of smart meters,
66% said would like more communication from their utility on smart meters,
Less than 30% could recall any outreach from their utility beyond the monthly bill,
62% of respondents agreed they would actively log onto an Internet site to check their power consumption on at least a weekly basis (Editor: actual experience where such sites are available has been far lower.)
56% of respondents agreed that they would set their thermostat by time of day based on consumption and pricing information from smart meters, and
A majority of consumers also expressed interest in services that would leverage smart meters, such as a detailed monthly comparison of their energy use versus that of their neighbors.
The finding that 78% of consumers believe their utility would be a good provider of appliance control suggests that the complaints about smart meter installations in the press represent a small minority of the population.
Read the full report from Boston Consulting Group here.
