1. Security. The effort kicked off by building an entirely encrypted network – encryption on all meters, all servers, all communications towers. That was followed by third-party threat assessments, whereby NV Energy literally brought in hackers to do their best to break in. Smith confesses that "they found things for us to fix." NV Energy may have an edge when it comes to finding and recruiting hackers, since the country's largest hacker convention is held in Las Vegas every year.

2. Privacy / Health. The next phase was to consider consumer concerns over data privacy and health issues. The utility is in the midst of discussions on whether and how to give consumers a way to opt-out if they are concerned about health impacts from smart meters.

3. Accuracy. NV Energy manually reads the meters the first month and compares the results to the automated read to look for discrepancies.  The company also contracted with the University of Nevada to perform independent accuracy testing. 

4. Deployment. When it came time to begin deployment, Smith and his colleagues lifted a concept from Ted Reguly and team at SDG&E, which has just concluded a highly successful smart meter rollout. Sixty days from installation, NV Energy began an awareness campaign. Thirty days out, they sent direct mail. Five days out, they made a phone call. On the day of installation they left a door knocker. After installation they followed up with a satisfaction survey.

5. Verification. The next step was to test the system fully and debug it before starting to use the data. They also used this opportunity to test the communication system and the encryption. Only then did they give customers access to the online portal.

6. Ownership. The final step is to hand off to the customer. The utility's goal is to enable "customer ownership of energy use." That ownership translates to convenience, control and customization. All customers get the convenience of intuitive energy information display (down to 15-minute interval data) presented on a customer portal along with customizable e-mail alerts concerning their electricity consumption (see illustration). Customers recruited into the voluntary advanced demand response program will receive additional tools providing enhanced convenience and automated control.

Enticing customer participation

Many utilities have experimented with ways to encourage customer participation in demand response. NV Energy falls into the "give them a big carrot" camp. Customers that participate in the program will receive a home energy management system that provides customer choice and control over automated energy management routines.  For example, the customer can program how many degrees of thermostat temperature rise they prefer during demand response events. Orwhen they have exceeded a personal energy budget or energy price threshold. The first system to be offered includes a sleek Control4 EC-100 device (including a 4.7" color touch-screen) which communicates wirelessly to the smart meter and programmable thermostats. (See illustration below.)