International research firm Parks Associates will address the growing market for energy management solutions at the third-annual Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, February 28-March 1, 2012, in Austin, TX, which will feature a joint keynote from Verizon and Motorola Mobility. Jeff Crews, Director of Business Development, 4Home Connected Solutions at Motorola Mobility, Inc., and Ann Shaub, Director of Product Management at Verizon, will co-deliver the luncheon keynote on Wednesday, February 29.

The conference will feature Parks Associates’ consumer research about energy usage and attitudes and industry analysis on significant standards developments such as Smart Energy Profile 2.0 (SEP 2.0). Parks Associates research shows the percentage of U.S. households with some form of energy management network will rise from 2% in 2011 to 13% by 2015, aided by the entry of major players like Best Buy, AT&T, Verizon, ADT, and Motorola Mobility and new devices like the Nest, a smart thermostat designed to appeal to the iPhone generation.

Consumer interest is driving growth - with 80% of U.S. households recently investing in some form of energy-related improvement for their current home. Market expansion is creating new challenges such as data ownership and security, so development of SEP 2.0 and other standards is an important step. Smart Energy Summit will analyze the impact of these new standards and examine case studies in the U.S. and around the world to identify best practices in deploying solutions and engaging consumers.

Companies on the Smart Energy Summit advisory board are Best Buy; Blue Line Innovations; CableLabs; Edison SmartConnect; GE; Gridwise Council, U.S. Department of Energy; Itron; Motorola Mobility; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; San Diego Gas & Electric; Smart Grid News; and Verizon.