Xcel Energy and Google have formed a new partnership to deliver tools that customers can use for managing their energy use and save money.
Image: Xcel Energy partners with Google to develop new energy solutions. Photo courtesy of Fré Sonneveld on Unsplash.
Through this collaboration, Xcel Energy is launching its first set of voice actions using the Google Assistant as a seamless way for customers to access information about improving energy efficiency in their homes.
Xcel Energy executive vice president and chief customer and innovation officer Brett Carter said: “Xcel Energy is always seeking ways to bring value to our customers through new energy options and enhanced service.
“We are excited to partner with Google and other tech leaders, as we create new ways to develop and deploy innovative energy solutions for our customers and leverage our investment in smart meter technology.”
For more than a decade, Xcel Energy has been a national leader in wind energy. The company’s leadership in clean energy is strategic for Google, which is committed to environmental sustainability. This collaboration will bring increasing value to Xcel Energy customers over time.
Working with new products like the Google Home Hub, Xcel Energy will expand its Google Assistant capabilities to give customers the ability to access their account information, receive notifications and personalize their energy management using voice-enabled devices, such as the Nest thermostat.
Xcel Energy has been a leader in providing smart home technologies that help its customers manage energy usage. The company and Nest began working together in 2015 with the energy savings program Seasonal Savings, which slowly fine-tunes temperatures in a customer’s home heating and cooling schedule to help them save energy and lower bills without sacrificing personal preferences or comfort.
With the recent addition of the smart thermostat energy efficiency rebates in Texas and Colorado, Xcel Energy is scaling up efforts to deploy smart thermostats for home energy management. And now, with Xcel Energy’s new Google Assistant integrations and actions, that effort is being expanded to provide an easier way for customers to use energy more efficiently.
Source: Company Press Release