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Smart Grid Backlash Be Gone: New Industry Group Will Try to Bring Consumers to the Party By SGN Staff Mar 23, 2010 - 1:48:13 PM
By Liz Enbysk SGN Managing Editor . Anyone connected to the Smart Grid industry knows there’s a problem when utility customers are refusing smart meters and locking up their old ones … or standing on street corners protesting higher utility bills after smart meter deployments. SGN has been reporting for months now about the consumer backlash swirling around Smart Grid installations.
Now here’s something else to stew about: A just-released GE Smart Grid survey suggests 79 percent of American consumers are still not familiar with the term “Smart Grid.” That’s more than three-quarters of the population – in a country that has just pumped billions of federal stimulus dollars into Smart Grid initiatives. (A more positive way to spin it? Of those who are familiar with the term “Smart Grid,” 80% are eager to learn more about it, how it will benefit them and if they’re already connected to one.)
Clearly, the industry has a huge amount of work to do to get the word out to consumers about what the Smart Grid is and how it benefits them. As GE’s VP of T&D Bob Gillian put it: “It’s critical that stakeholders responsible for the development of a smarter electrical grid, policy makers, regulators, utilities and organizations like GE, commit to an investment in consumer education efforts.”
The purpose of the collaborative is to accelerate adoption of the Smart Grid in a way that empowers and protects consumers while encouraging jobs and economic growth. They say they’ll do this through research, education and outreach funded by participating members, which will include progressive utilities, leading technology and consumer electronics companies, prominent researchers and consumer advocates.
As founding members of SGCC indicated at the press conference, much of the industry’s focus has been on stimulus money and the technology and infrastructure that support the Smart Grid – not on the consumers who will need to embrace it.
“Most consumers don’t yet understand today why they should care,” suggested Control4 President Richard Walker.
Guido Bartels, General Manager of Energy & Utilities at IBM, called the Smart Grid the “ultimate enabler” giving consumers choice and control. But, he added, “Consumers need easy intuitive tools to make informed energy choices.”
Janine Midgen-Ostrander, a former utility attorney who currently serves as Consumer Counsel representing 4.5 million Ohio households, agreed. ‘If you build it they will come’ does not necessarily translate to the Smart Grid, she said.
"We have always said that the grid is not really smart unless the consumers are able to be active participants and make decisions on how they use energy,” added GridWise President Katherine Hamilton. “As we move forward with our own industry-based consumer efforts, we will work closely with Jesse and the SGCC to share information and ideas and to leverage resources so that consumers will not only participate in but also benefit from a smarter grid."
You might also be interested in …
Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative website
SGCC launch announcement (pdf) GE Smart Grid survey (pdf)
Related SGN resources …
Blowback Attack: The Smart Grid Greatest Danger?
Smart Meter Bashing in Texas Gets a Response from Oncor
Smart Grid Backlash: How to Put an End to Consumer Resistance
How Privacy (or Lack of It) Could Sabotage the Grid
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