Search engine giant Google was one of dozens of companies and organisations that were signatories of a letter to US President Barack Obama calling on giving every household and business access to useful and actionable information on their energy use.
The letter states that armed with such information, consumers would find it easier to take energy efficiency measures. According to the document, if all U.S. households saved 15% on their energy use by 2020, the greenhouse gas savings would be equivalent to taking 35 million cars off the road and would save each electricity customer on average USD$360 annually.
The coalition of signatories that also included The Climate Group, Intel, U.S. Green Building Council, Hewlett Packard and Nokia, says consumers should have the ability to see their power use in a manner that will enable them to discover the sources and causes of their consumption; and should also be provided easy access to pricing plans.
The groups says information should also be made available to consumers about the generation sources of their electricity; for example, the proportion of renewable energy to fossil fuel based power generation sources..
The letter is reportedly a response to the delayed rollout of a USD$4 billion smart grid for the USA promised by the Obama Administration, a crucial element needed to provide such a degree of information to consumers.
According to Michael Terrell, Energy Policy Counsel for Google, “Consumers of energy are one of the nation’s largest untapped clean energy resources. In order for consumers to reach their full potential we need the Federal Government to help lead the way.”
While the USA struggles to get smart grid implementation off the ground, Australia appears to be powering ahead. The nation is now considered to be one of the world leaders in smart grid development.
The full text of the letter can be viewed here (PDF)
