Can electric companies win the smart home?

Can electric companies win the smart home?




NRG Energy Inc. wants to have a bigger presence in customers’ homes, but first, the power company has some convincing to do.To get more news about smart home solutions, you can visit securamsys.com official website.

Houston-based NRG announced plans in December to buy Vivint Smart Home Inc. for $2.8 billion in a deal that marks a new opportunity for the electricity sector — even though it sent NRG’s stock tumbling.

Vivint, which started as a home security technology provider, offers a range of smart-home appliances like cameras, lights, thermostats and locks. Those electronics can be controlled remotely or automatically and can be connected through a single management system.Combining Vivint with a power producer and retailer like NRG is another major shift as the grid transitions to more renewable energy and consumers look for more control over their own energy use. Travis Miller, an energy and utilities strategist for Morningstar Research Services LLC, said that as clean energy takes up a greater share of electricity generation, “that’s not a great outcome for legacy fossil fuel power generation.”
To adapt to this new energy landscape, it’s a natural move to focus on the customer,” Miller said. “NRG has always had a good foothold in that market; now, NRG has a first-mover advantage as the market grows.”

The company has for years sought to evolve along with the power sector, though at times investors have questioned its plans and sought to alter its focus (Energywire, Dec. 4, 2015). In 2021, NRG closed its acquisition of Direct Energy LP, the retail electricity distributor and home services company.

Mauricio Gutierrez, who became NRG’s chief executive in late 2015, said during a recent investor call that the Vivint deal was designed to “grow and deepen our relationship with customers.” Vivint’s appliances, Gutierrez added, are something that owners interact with on a daily basis.

The deal could also have significant implications for NRG’s goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Adding the Vivint platform offers NRG customers a home ecosystem in which smart controls can help with everything from energy efficiency to home solar, NRG spokesperson Laura Avant said in an email. The technology can also help flatten out peak demand, and “connected, intuitive homes can help enhance resiliency and reliability during times of grid stress,” Avant said.

“Today, the home sits at the intersection of clean energy and smart technology, and increasingly, customers want control over where their energy comes from and how and when it is consumed,” Avant said.

Bethany Sparn, a senior research engineer focused on residential buildings at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, said smart appliances that can be managed remotely or automatically offer electric companies a new set of tools.

Rather than adding more generation to meet peak demand — as is usually the case — Sparn said smart homes could give utilities more data and insight into demand.

“There’s a big opportunity that hasn’t been tapped. There are plenty of knobs to turn on the load side,” Sparn said. “Even if you think about small tweaks on a small scale. Let’s say in the Denver metro area, even 30 percent of customers agree to some small tweaks, there can be a real impact on overall demand.”

For example, a smart thermostat connected to a utility could allow the provider to temporarily turn down air conditioning or heat during a period of high stress. A utility could instruct a smart appliance — such as a washing machine — or an electric vehicle charger to kick in at a time when demand and rates are at their lowest.

Because the smart home ecosystem is still emerging, there’s limited data on the efficiency gains they offer.

A pair of experiments run by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory studied homes connected in a microgrid and outfitted with smart appliances in Alabama in partnership with Southern Co. and its Alabama Power unit. The researchers found that energy consumption could be reduced by 44 percent and peak demand cut by 34 percent with those applications.