In the past few months I have written several articles about the dynamics of the implementation of smart grids globally, and touched upon some of the issues driving the market as well as consumer skepticism over its deployment. In fact, if you follow the smart grid area closely in the U.S., you are aware of the struggles, especially at the local level, the industry is having generating consumer awareness of the benefits of smart grids and over-coming objections as to its security, the motives of utilities which are seen as just a way to raise rates, and proving the real value delivered. 

The good news is, in somewhat of an ironic twist, an article in USA Today by Dennis Cauchon, probably gives the most potent argument favoring smart grid deployment.   At the end of the day, it is about providing consumers control/protection against skyrocketing electricity costs which show no end in sight.

The article is compelling on multiple scores, not the least of which is a map of the U.S. that shows by state what residential customers paid in cents per kilowatt hour in 2010. While not enough to make one decide to pick up and move to a lower cost state, it certainly should be something to take into consideration when calculating expected costs if a move is in your future.

Here are a few highlights from the article which analyzed data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Energy Information Administration:
 

• Households paid a record $1,419 on average for electricity in 2010, the fifth consecutive yearly increase above the inflation rate.
• Electricity now consumers a greater share of after-tax income ($1.50 of every $100) than any time since 1996.
• Despite the deployment of new energy saving appliances by U.S. households, bigger house sizes which use more energy for heating and cooling and a proliferation of more things that require energy (think cell phone and game chargers along with all of the things that get hooked up to TVs) have more than negated those savings.
• Not just increased demand, but also the retirement of old power plants and the need to modernize the grid in general are propelling an explosion in utility company costs and hence accounting for a continuation of rate requests that are likely to exceed the rate of inflation for the foreseeable future.

This is not a pretty picture for consumers or the industry, especially given the challenging economic times. 

What it indicates, and should be front and center in industry attempts to drive smart grid deployments, is that consumers have a need to:

• Know what their overall energy usage is including down to the appliance level.
• Have the ability to not just monitor but control costs.

In other words, while an energy audit — a physical visit from a utility representative to review energy consumption and make recommendations on cost mitigation techniques — is an important first step in controlling costs, being able to leverage the benefits of a smart grid should be seen as essential.

The actor Harry Morgan died this past week. He was not just the beloved character Colonel Potter on the TV show M*A*S*H, but in the early days of television played Officer Bill Gannon on the immensely popular show Dragnet. And, as Officer Gannon, on almost every show, used to say when interrogating a witness, “Nothing but the Facts!” 

USA Today has done the industry a service, although utilities might not think so, by highlighting the facts. They happen to strengthen the consumer case for smart grid, and it will be interesting to see if utilities across the U.S. use this to their advantage and take the opportunity to make lemonade out of what could be considered lemons.

Peter Bernstein is a technology industry veteran, having worked in multiple capacities with several of the industry's biggest brands, including Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent, Telcordia, HP, Siemens (News - Alert), Nortel, France Telecom, and others, and having served on the Advisory Boards of 15 technology startups. To read more of Peter's work, please visit his columnist page.