Accenture’s survey, Revealing the Values of the New Energy Consumer, offers four critical implications for utilities and electricity providers in the new energy marketplace.

1. Mine the data. Use analytics to make sense of diverse customer preferences, and then target groups with tailored value propositions and solutions. Data, along with the ability to manage and analyze it, may become the new core of competitive differentiation. It’s not just how many customers you have – it’s how well you know them.

Movements are nothing new. We watch them take shape through religion, politics, and social issues. By “movements,” I mean real, coordinated group actions focused on creating significant change. They are the great game-changers of society, and as marketers we just love game-changers. So it’s only natural to ask, can there be brand movements?
To put it another way, has group action ever created movement around a brand? How about Apple? Walmart? Mad River Glen Ski Resort? These are three distinctive brands, and each has spawned distinctive movements. Of even greater interest, perhaps, is the difference between these brands and the many, many brands out there that have failed to create movements.

Once again a major player in the Smart Grid space is sounding the alarm about the importance of customer buy-in to Smart Grid.
Readers here have seen our summaries in recent weeks about Accenture's comprehensive report, "Revealing the Values of the New Energy Consumer." Now Oracle is out with its second annual "Smart Grid Challenges & Choices" report, based on interviews with 152 C-level executives at U.S. utilities.

You’re wandering the aisles of Sears, searching for a new, energy efficient refrigerator. A blue and white logo catches your eye – Energy Star, the gold standard for energy efficiency. That should make your choice easier.
Right?

Here’s Accenture’s take on the six core energy consumer segments found in the U.S., as reported in the consultancy’s most recent survey.

If people responsible for communicating about Smart Grid and smart meters think the roll-out is going to be a communications cake walk, consider this post, from the GreenMuze blog, that begins:
A plan by BC Hydro, together with certain financial interests, which has been hatched in secrecy, with zero public consultation, is being sprung on an uninformed population and now threatens our right to choose to live in safe environments. Gulf Islanders for Safe Technology, an ad hoc group formed to oppose “smart metering”, urges residents to examine Hydro’s ill-conceived plan to force a wireless electric power meter radiating at roughly 100 times the strength of a cell phone, 24/7, on every home and workplace.

Here’s the second key finding from Accenture’s recent global survey, “Revealing the Values of the New Energy Consumer”:
The opportunity to reduce the electricity bill remains the most important fact that would encourage consumers to adopt an electricity management program.

Via Treehugger.com: Speaking to a sold-out audience at WIRED's third annual conference, "Disruptive by Design," held Tuesday in New York City, Bill Gates warned that "cute" technologies related to energy efficiency, such as solar panels, LED lights and energy efficient buildings are economic, but do not deal with the bigger issue of climate change.

"Can we, by increasing efficiency [technologies], deal with our climate problem?" he asked, according to PC Magazine. "The answer there is basically no, because the climate problem requires more than 90 percent reduction of CO2 emitted, and no amount of efficiency improvement is enough," he added.

With summer on the way, Brian Palmer over at Slate Magazine ponders the relative environmental merits of central air conditioning versus in-window air conditioners. It's a thoughtful analysis, although one that doesn't really reach a definitive conclusion. Here's where Palmer lands:
Because of the construction and behavioral variables, it's impossible to pronounce a winner in this particular competition. As is often the case, the choice is often going to come down to each consumer's behavior. Generally speaking, the newfangled ductless system is going to be the most efficient but priciest option upfront. If you're choosing between an old-school central air system and window units, the latter could be better if you're childless, live in a large home in a dry environment, or tend to be forgetful about adjusting your thermostat.

Accenture’s latest global survey, “Revealing the Values of the New Energy Consumer”, examines the “beyond-the-meter” market, a growing playing field of in-home consumer technologies, demand-side management programs and related support services made possible by smart technologies.
Nontraditional players from product retailers to telecommunications companies are creating new choices for consumers – and new competitive pressures for utilities and electricity providers.