“Green Button” to Help Consumers Understand Energy Use
MARCH 22, 2012 UPDATE:
- On March 22, 2012, new utilities signed onto the White House's Green Button project, bringing the total number of electricity customers who will be able to access the Green Button tool to 27 million. Participating utilities are working with technology companies to transform Green Button’s data into an easy-to-understand, online format for their customers; it is currently available for Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and San Diego Gas & Electric customers.
- Check to see if your utility has signed on for the Green Button, and read the Alliance to Save Energy’s letter to President Barack Obama applauding him and participating utilities on the Green Button project.
- Read the Alliance's March 22 press release here, and our detailed Jan. 20 news article below.
On Jan. 18, 2012, the Whitehouse Office of Science and Technology Policy joined several utility and technology executives to roll out a new consumer-friendly tool called the “Green Button.” Customers of participating utilities will be able to use this tool to get more information about their energy use from their utilities’ websites.
California utilities are among the first to launch the program, including Alliance Associate PG&E. Associate Southern California Edison intends to make the Green Button available to its customers in the coming year. Utilities in other states are expected to make the Green Button available to their customers as well.
Photo courtesy of PG&E, which has had more than 200,000 downloads of its data between January 2012 and March 2012.
How Green Button Works
Customers of participating utilities will be able to download their own energy use information with a “click of a button" and manage that data with applications developed by utilities and third-party software designers. Consumers can then view and better understand their energy usage. Consumer-oriented energy use feedback systems have been shown to reduce energy consumption by 5-15%.*
The Green Button program takes advantage of new technology that allows energy usage data to be standardized so that systems designed for the Green Button can be used across all the participating utilities nationwide. Smart meters will not be required to participate, but those with smart meters will have more data to analyze and learn from.
Energy Data Access a Goal for Obama Administration
The Office of Science and Technology’s June 2011 paper A Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid (which cited Alliance to Save Energy comments) made consumer access to energy data a priority. The Green Button concept was discussed at events surrounding that document’s release, modeled on similar systems to give veterans access to their medical records.
Program Hopes to Engage Software Developers
The North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) will produce a “starter kit” for developers of third-party computer programs and smart phone apps that could help consumers use data from Green Button. The data standard behind it, REQ21, is based on the earlier OpenADR.
Alliance Associate AT&T , along with utility San Diego Gas & Electric, is a primary sponsor of a $50,000 challenge for software designers to create applications that incorporate data sets, including Green Button data, into products that improve the lives of San Diegans. The Department of Energy will also release a funding opportunity announcement for projects demonstrating consumer-oriented tools, worth up to $500,000 with cost-sharing.
More Green Button Info
- Press Release from the Office of Science and Technology Policy
- NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Panel Green Button Initiative information
Green Button Energy-Saving App Competition
On April 5, the U.S. Department of Energy, PG&E and technology firm Itron will start a nationwide competition for Green Button energy smartphone apps with $100,000 in prizes for the best apps.
More on Energy Apps
*
EPRI (2011). Estimating the Costs and Benefits of the Smart Grid: A Preliminary Estimate of the Investment Requirements and the Resultant Benefits of a Fully Functioning Smart Grid.
Sarah Darby (2010). “Smart Metering: What Potential for Householder Engagement?” Building Research and Innovation, 38(5). p 442-457.
Sarah Darby (2006). The Effectiveness of Feedback on Energy Consumption: A Review for DEFRA on the Literature on Metering, Billing and Direct Displays, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford.
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