How does the smart grid save me money? What is the smart grid? How does smart grid technology benefit my daily life as an energy user? For many people, these commonly asked questions are at the root of misunderstanding exactly how the smart grid benefits the average American daily. With smart grid technology you are able to save money, take control of your daily electric energy consumption more effectively and help protect the environment. Read on, and you’ll agree that there are many reasons why the smart grid is the beneficial to you in the following ways:

1. Saving money: Through advance metering, utilities are able to provide demand response programs, which are designed to assist energy users in cutting back on power usage during heat waves and cold spells by reducing peak-demand periods on the grid, saving you money.
2. Managing energy consumption: Digital metering is allowing individuals to moderate their household energy usage and reduce demand. It gives access to their electric consumption data, especially during high-energy usage peaks, which help energy users make better informed energy choices.
3. Energy reliability: Digital meters are enabling utilities to provide more reliable energy service which decreases the amount of electric outages. Smart meters can electronically report the location of an outage before a person will ever have to call their utility, making restoration faster and status notification to individuals much easier.
4. Protecting the environment: The smart grid can cut air pollution from the electric utility sector as much as 30 percent by 2030, saving 34,000 deaths a year. Also, the smart grid ensures that renewable power sources like wind farms, solar plants and hydro stations can be integrated. Yearly energy savings from the smart grid could equal 70 million road trips around the world or driving an electric car 1.7 trillion miles.

For more information on all the benefits of the smart grid and the advances in smart grid technology, click here.