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Dallas Morning News

Companies have new focus on managing consumers’ electricity usage

“Today there are 1.9 million homes with energy management networks” nationwide, said Bill Ablondi of Parks Associates, a Dallas market research company. “We are entering a period of pervasive growth. … We estimate there will be 16.2 million by 2015.”

Parks Associates hosted the Smart Energy Summit in Austin last week. It focused on ways to find customers for such services. The three-day affair showed enthusiasm is high among corporations and entrepreneurs, who sense an emerging market. Ablondi said there were about 75 companies in the market last year, but now there are as many as 250, including such big names as GE, Intel , Verizon and AT&T.

Ablondi of Dallas marketer Parks Associates said energy management systems independent of smart meters would outsell the utility plans for several more years. He estimated that wireless thermostats would grow into a $1.1 billion market by 2015, and that remote-control lighting systems would equal that market.

From the article, "Companies have new focus on managing consumers’ electricity usage" by Jim Landers

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