One of the year’s largest smart grid conferences — DistribuTECH — closes today in San Antonio, Texas. It’s like the CES for utilities, power companies and the vendors that are trying to sell them stuff. Here are the top 10 trends I took away.
1.4 million Pennsylvanians switched their power supplier in 2011 as the state follows Texas into the deregulated power market. Deregulated markets allow power retailers to differentiate their products and segment the market. This can be helpful for companies like Opower and Tendril, that are trying to reach a customer interested in renewable energy and energy savings strategies. The U.S. market for electricity is still mostly regulated but opening up the market a bit more would allow for energy retailers to continue to roll out more innovative technology to hook customers interested in conserving electricity.
