The company said that this is an early step in using smart grid technology to link the zero emission power generation to the electric vehicle infrastructure in Texas as the foundation for a clean energy future that is not dependent on foreign oil.
David Crane, president and CEO of NRG Energy, said: “We are grateful the DOE recognizes the value of our smart-energy suite of products, which will give our Texas customers the tools to better understand and monitor their electricity usage.”
Jason Few, president of Reliant Energy, said: “Reliant is committed to revolutionizing the way people interact with energy through technology by continually pushing to develop and deliver innovative energy solutions to improve the lives of our customers. This grant will help us get those services into the hands of more customers between now and 2013.”
The company said that it has a Time-of-Use plan for customers with smart meters. As per this plan, the price of electricity changes during the day based on overall demand for electricity, allowing customers to benefit from making choices about when and how to use electricity. By shifting high-usage activities – like doing laundry or running the dishwasher – to lower-priced times, customers may be able to reduce their overall cost.
Other planned products and services include a web portal that tracks electricity usage as well as costs and can be accessed remotely to monitor energy use while away from home; home energy monitors that communicate with the smart meter to display information including current electricity use, estimated bill, energy-saving tips and alerts when the bill reaches a certain point; and smart appliances.
