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Page added on March 1, 2015
Consumers Hungry for Bundled Energy Services
Smart energy services in the home are already wrapped up with home security settings. Intelligent light bulbs and smart thermostats are standard offerings as part of smart home packages, which are led by security.
But people are ready for more, much more, according to new research from Parks Associates released at its Smart Energy Summit in Austin this week. Nearly half of homes with broadband in the U.S. would be willing to subscribe to a bundle of energy services for about $10 per month. Internet and HVAC maintenance were the most popular services to bundle with electricity services.
“Bundling together a group of services can expand product pricing and drive recurring revenue,” Tom Kerber, director of home controls and energy research for Parks Associates, said in a statement. “In addition, consumers are receptive to new business models such as demand response programs that offer manufacturers an ongoing revenue source that is not directly funded by the consumer.”
The information will be of interest to utilities, solar installers and telecoms, all of which are looking for increased revenue streams from customers. For eager customers, bundling is coming, albeit slowly.
Vivint is piloting wireless internet along with its home security and solar installation services. NRG and Comcast are teamed up in Pennsylvania for cable, internet and electricity. TXU Energy is rolling out notifications to customers to let them know if their HVAC or pool pump is on the fritz, courtesy of analytics powered by Bidgely. In the U.K., British Gas just acquired AlertMe to integrate more smart home services into its consumer offerings.
Although there is a lot of talk that utilities may be missing out on this opportunity to other players, such as telecom and security companies, there are so many ways that consumers are entering this market that it’s anyone’s game — and utilities in deregulated markets could be particularly well positioned.
“Interest in smart energy solutions is strong, but in drilling down, no single offering is driving demand,” said Kerber.
The good news for utilities is that smart thermostats had the highest penetration of any device in 2014, so even if people aren’t buying them to forge a deeper relationship with their energy provider, that opportunity is there.
8 Comments on "Consumers Hungry for Bundled Energy Services"
penury on Sun, 1st Mar 2015 4:02 pm
Just another sign that the end is near.
Davy on Sun, 1st Mar 2015 5:06 pm
Instead of adding complexity and efficiency we must reduce, decentralize, and simplify. We need sustainability and resilience not more rigidity from hyper complexity and efficiency. A bundled service means one problem within the system could bring down all the services.
We have been preaching a religion of efficiency. It has resulted in a global BAU of JIT goods production with global distribution. All of our locals have been delocalized. These bundled services may have a small town in Iowa relying on a data center in India.
In any case most of these service are not needed anyway. Maybe I am thinking the wrong way. Let’s let the techies make these services more complex, centralized, and efficient. Then they may fail quicker and we can get on with living our lives locally in simplified less intensive environments.
We have hit diminishing returns and limits. We think we can overcome these predicaments with the same technologies that got us here. We try to blame everything but technology for our problems. Hence the constant bombardment with innovation, efficiency, and complexity.
Folks when will these attitudes be discredited. Anyone with a brain should see they are discredited now. How long will it take before these techies and business are rejected? If time was not of the essence I would just be amused by all this but our time is short and critical resources are being wasted.
Makati1 on Sun, 1st Mar 2015 6:01 pm
Ah, the never ending dreams of the techies and capitalism. you have to have aqn income with surplus to buy their dreams. Ain’t gonna happen. The Western income purchasing power is shrinking and has been for decades. Soon food and water will top ALL purchases. Not e-toys.
Apneaman on Sun, 1st Mar 2015 6:40 pm
HVAC maintenance. The almost always unnecessary vacuuming of your duct work. That will be $299 please Mr sucker.
Makati1 on Sun, 1st Mar 2015 7:49 pm
Connect it all and give the empire a total ‘off’ switch when THEY decide you have had enough. Maybe you should have a pacemaker installed and connected to the ‘system’? Then they could just say “Drop Dead” and you would instantly comply.
Bob Owens on Sun, 1st Mar 2015 8:59 pm
Down at Home Depot they sell water heaters and garage door openers that I can talk to with my smart phone. What do I have to say to them that makes any sense at all? I guess I could check to see if my garage door is down or not. Or I could spend a few more seconds in my driveway to make sure it goes down. This is totally stupid! Really, do we need this electronic junk to maintain? I own a small flip phone from the dark ages and guess what? It’s all I need! If I get locked out of my house I just go get my hidden spare key and open the door! No electronic lock needed! Please think before you buy this stuff; you really don’t need it.
dave thompson on Sun, 1st Mar 2015 11:42 pm
This article is a good example of how industry convinces people to need and want stuff.
Kenz300 on Tue, 3rd Mar 2015 12:16 pm
Semi monopolies like COMCAST cable are looking for merger opportunities so they can expand their hold on the consumers and reduce competition further…………
There needs to be competition for capitalism to work….. otherwise the top 1% just continue to get richer at the expense of the 99%