U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that up to $8 million in funding will be made available to encourage utilities, local governments, and communities to create programs that empower consumers to better manage their electricity use through improved access to their own electricity consumption data. Under the “Smart Grid Data Access” Funding Opportunity Announcement, local communities will be able to partner with utilities and third-party technology innovators to develop and implement programs that make consumer electricity consumption data readily available. Programs developed under this funding announcement could lead to greater residential energy efficiency and potentially to reduced energy costs for consumers.
New smart grid technologies on the electric grid are generating unprecedented amounts of electricity usage data that can potentially give homes and businesses more control over their electricity choices. However, in order to turn this data into useable information, consumers need tools and software products that are convenient and easy to use so they can more effectively understand their electricity use.
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