Many power companies now offer products and services to help their customers take advantage of the smart home. For example, many power companies offer an online marketplace, an Amazon-like website that allows you to purchase smart home and energy-efficient products, often with a significant rebate or incentive applied. On ComEd Marketplace, a website for Illinois’ largest power company, customers can purchase a Google Nest Thermostat for only $69 after instant rebate. Some power companies may give you a free smart thermostat or significant rebate if you enroll in a program to move your energy use away from times of high electricity usage (for example, the early evening on a hot summer day). These programs help power companies avoid using costly energy, and those savings are passed along to all customers, as well as the extra bill savings if you participate.
Question #1
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean pharetra luctus lectus, at mattis tellus imperdiet ac. Nunc adipiscing eleifend lectus, ac porttitor dolor pellentesque quis. Donec ut lacus magna, in auctor leo. Aliquam sollicitudin faucibus imperdiet. Donec feugiat nisi nec est volutpat vel sagittis purus rhoncus. Mauris eget tempus nibh. Sed viverra lacus sed magna adipiscing porttitor eget sit amet felis. Fusce aliquam blandit lorem a rhoncus.
LEARN MORE
- Are advanced meters a fire hazard?
- Are smart meters accurate?
- Will smart meters increase my energy bill?
- Will a smart meter give my utility control over how and when I use energy?
- How is my personal usage information kept private and secure?
- Do smart meters pose a health risk? What credible research has been conducted on radio frequency and smart meters?
- Can I purchase and install or remove my own meter?
Q&A
A map of smart meter installations by state provided by the Institute for Electric Efficiency illustrates progress. As of May 2012, 36 million smart meters have been installed across the country. By 2015, approximately 65 million smart meters are expected to be installed—that’s more than half of all U.S. households.
While very similar to the existing electric meters, there is one big difference in the appearance of the new smart electric meter: an easy-to-read digital display instead of the spinning wheel or dial that many customers have today. For those customers, this will be the only obvious difference between the appearance of the old and the new meter.