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FCC broadband plan to call for access to real-time energy info
1/21/10
(Cross-posted from
Public Policy Blog
)
Over the past six months we have been providing you with periodic updates and
comments
on the
FCC's National Broadband Plan
, which is scheduled for release in mid-March. Earlier today FCC energy and environment director Nick Sinai gave a sneak preview of one of the Plan's key components: how broadband will facilitate smarter energy usage.
He
told an audience
at the
Clean-tech Investor Summit
that the FCC will call on States and the Congress to give consumers and consumer-authorized third parties access to real-time energy information. This kind of information could have a huge financial and environmental impact.
Studies show
that access to real-time usage data results in energy savings of up to 15%. He talked about how, combined with other measures, this information could create a platform that could lead to new products and services to help consumers manage energy. Picture it: a smart phone apps store for home energy management.
Sinai singled out for praise technologies like "smart" electricity meters and recent efforts in California to include consumer data access policies as part of a statewide smart meter roll out. (Learn more by reading
Google's comments
.) While encouraged by state-led initiatives like this, Sinai said if state efforts don't work, the FCC could recommend that Congress consider national energy data accessibility legislation.
Posted by Michael Terrell, Energy Policy Counsel
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