FierceSmartGrid

Despite consumer interest in energy-saving solutions, selling products and services and engaging consumers in demand response programs continue to be challenges for service providers, utilities, and device manufacturers. Consumer energy-saving activities such as turning off unused lights and monitoring A/C usage peaked in 2010, and as the economy has slowly recovered, consumers' energy consciousness has diminished.

Parks Associates' Energy Management Devices: Engaging Consum ...read more

Over in San Antonio, Texas, we are tracking the trends in consumer engagement and the connected home at Parks Associates' Smart Energy Summit.

One big theme running through both the Smart Energy Summit and the ISGT conference is engaging the consumer, whether in terms of the smart grid or the benefits of incorporating energy management with other home controls. In both cases, the majority of customers are not engaged but do want more information. Along with that information, ...read more

Electric utility business models are rapidly becoming outdated. The proliferation of distributed generation, electric vehicles, and home controls technologies; the full participation of demand response assets in power generation markets; and national goals on energy and climate change are straining the traditional Traditional energy management programs use economics as the primary consumer value proposition, i.e., the return on investment in the form of energy savings. Selling p ...read more

Connectivity expands the functionality of consumer products and can change the dynamics of a market. Apple, for instance, leveraged connectivity to change the music industry with the introduction of the iPod and iTunes, radically expanding the functionality and usefulness of cell phones through connected applications.

Today, single-product solutions are rapidly entering the market, expanding the value proposition of everyday products.For example, consumers purchasing a garag ...read more

Parks Associates' ongoing assessment of the Residential Energy Management (REM) market includes extensive primary consumer research to determine and monitor the mindset of consumers and their motivations when adopting REM solutions. Parks Associates' latest REM research reveals 80% of U.S. consumers invested in some form of energy-saving home improvement for their current home.

Consumers made these home improvements not only to save money but also to enhance their lifestyle. ...read more