Will e-KNOW Bill Pave Way for Smart Grid?

The Electric Consumer Right to Know Act (also known as e-KNOW), introduced recently in the U.S. Senate, is being hailed by some as a building block to achieving a more efficient smart grid.

The bill would give consumers greater access to their electric usage information in real time, improving their ability to manage energy use with devices like house-wide energy management systems.

The proposed legislation may also help prevent angry consumer backlash to smart grid rollouts by utilities, such as ones in Northern California and Texas in 2010.

The e-Know bill would give consumers the right to authorize access to their usage data by companies that facilitate home energy efficiency. Consumers would also be able to access information directly from home energy management systems and other energy-management products, independent of the utility’s electric meter. Also, the legislation would ensure that the right to consumer-data access is technology neutral, allowing consumers to choose how they get and use their consumption information.

Laying the Groundwork
Isn’t getting information on a home’s energy usage part of what the smart grid is supposed to be all about? Isn’t all of this supposed to happen anyway?

Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), who sponsored the bill, posted a press release on his website that says during the senator’s Colorado Energy Jobs Summit in 2010, a consumer noted that even though he had a smart meter, his power company wouldn’t let him access his own meter readings. Udall crafted the Electric Consumer Right to Know Act to ensure that consumers can get timely access to the information on their electrical meters.

The bill, however, is not aimed specifically at bringing electric utilities in line with providing smart grid services, says James Anderson, vice president of Smart Grid and Demand Management for Schneider Electric’s Energy Business.

“This bill really updates the older public utility regulations out there since the 1970s,” he says. “It clarifies more than anything else. There still is a lot of questioning around the ownerships of [electricity usage data]. That’s a hot topic.”

Anderson says the bill contains two main elements for consumers:

• Having access to their electricity usage data
• Having security around it

“The bill sets out a clear perspective around the consumer having rights around accessing that information and gives a clear direction,” he says.

Anderson believes the bill has a strong chance at passage, and he doesn’t expect push-back from electric utilities, many of which he reminds are involved in pilot programs that provide consumers with such information.

Creating Awareness
Anderson says the e-Know bill, updated form a previous version introduced in 2010, is just one part of many policies that should be put into place to ensure a bright energy future for the United States.
As much as utilities need guidance with these issues, some work has to be done to educate consumers about the benefits of the smart grid, Anderson says.

“Electricity is one of the last areas where consumers get essentially no information about their purchases,” said Tim Enwall, executive VP of Tendril and Chairman of DRSG. “That makes no sense, especially as the smart grid becomes a reality. One of the key ways that the smart grid will be put into action is by putting new information into the hands of consumers that will, among other things, give them feedback on the energy-reducing steps they take. After all, how can we expect consumers to manage what they can’t measure.”