Intel's Smart Grid Ambitions: A Swift Kick in the Apps

Is Intel joining Smart Grid latecomers Google, Microsoft, Apple and Cisco in a bid to dominate the market or even to make utilities obsolete?   You could hardly blame utilities for being suspicious about Intel's newly released Intelligent Home Energy Management software. Just consider what’s happening in the telecom space. Google and Apple are trying to "disintermediate" the telcos. They want to own the customer relationship, so the loyalty is to your Android or Apple phone, not to the carrier. . Despite its “Don’t Be Evil” motto, Google would be delighted to doeth unto utilities as it is doing unto telcos.

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Indeed, Google has received approval to become a power marketer and is already under an antitrust cloud in Europe. Meanwhile Apple has achieved virtual monopoly control over online music and is experimenting with home energy management. As for Microsoft... well, Microsoft is always under suspicion (and damn proud of it).

 

So I asked Lori Wigle, head of Intel's Open Energy Initiative, to explain their motives. She says the strategy is still Intel Inside, not Intel Uber Alles. The consumer dashboard (pictured below) is a prototype and a reference design. Though Intel may private label the dashboard via utilities and manufacturers, they won’t be trying to build a branded interface as Apple, Microsoft, Google and Cisco are trying to do.

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I came away with the impression that Intel wanted to prime the pump by showing what an interface could look like. And, equally important, what an “App Store” might look like.

 

No question today’s Smart Grid players could use a swift kick in the apps right now. They still don’t seem to realize that, as it begins to reach into homes, the Smart Grid will create another channel for creative applications. The victory will go to the company that creates a platform and an ecosystem of developers who build compelling applications on top. Unless we’re just planning to wait for Steve Jobs to come take over this market too, we need companies to start getting creative about the solutions they build on top of the infrastructure. Kudos to Intel for pointing the way.

 

If you haven't studied Intel’s Open Energy Initiative yet, you may want to take a look at it. It's quite comprehensive, embracing grid infrastructure, microgrids, smart buildings, and home energy management. Wigle serves as the "Pathfinder” who coordinates Smart Grid activities across the empire, including research and development, capital (investments in projects and companies), standards, policy, and products (embedded systems others can use to build commercial products).

 

You might also be interested in …

Intel Smart Grid: The Intel Open Energy Initiative

Google Smart Grid: Google Hit with Antitrust Investigation in Europe

 

Related SGN resources …

Smart Grid Market Size: 28 Million Home Energy Displays by 2015

Smart Grid Market Size: Bringing the Smart Grid to the Smart Home

Smart Home in 2010: From PowerPoints to Pilots

Intel Smart Grid: Intel Unveils Home Energy Management Proof of Concept

Apple Smart Grid: Apple Eyes Crowded Home Energy Management Space

 

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