Google PowerMeter was a software project of
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
's philanthropic arm,
Google.org
Google.org, founded in October 2005, is the charitable arm of Google, a multinational technology company. The organization has committed roughly US$100 million in investments and grants to nonprofits annually.
The organization is noted for se ...
, to help consumers track their home
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...
usage.
The development of the software was part of an effort by Google to invest in
renewable energy,
electricity grid
An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...
upgrades, and other measures that would reduce
greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and ...
. It was launched on October 5, 2009 and ended on September 16, 2011.
The software was designed to record the user's electricity usage in near real-time. According to the company, if half of America's homes' energy use was cut by ten percent, it would equal the average energy used by eight million cars.
It was hoped that this tool would raise the home-owner's awareness of how much energy they use and make users more energy efficient.
PowerMeter was intended for use with
smart meters able to track electricity usage in more detail than standard
electric meters. According to Google, in 2009 there were approximately 40 million smart meters in use worldwide.
By early 2009, approximately 7% of US homes had a smart meter installed.
Some other types of electricity meters and
in-home energy use displays could also be used with PowerMeter.
Partnerships
In May 2009, Google announced that it had partners with smart meter maker Itron. In October 2009 Google PowerMeter announced their first "device partner", The Energy Detective (TED 5000), an energy monitor from Energy Inc then only available only in North America, and their first UK partnership which was with
AlertMe. Also in 2009, Yello Strom customers in Germany were able to begin adding the PowerMeter widget to their iGoogle pages to track their energy usage.
In 2010 UK company Current Cost announced a collaboration with Google PowerMeter.
San Diego Gas and Electric
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) provides natural gas and electricity to San Diego County and southern Orange County in southwestern California, United States. It is owned by Sempra, a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Di ...
's
Sempra Energy
Sempra is a North American energy infrastructure company based in San Diego, California. The company is one of the largest utility holding companies in the United States with roughly 40 million consumers. Sempra's focus is on electric and natura ...
company announced plans to install 1.4 million
smart meters in
San Diego County
San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...
and Southern
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
by the end of 2011 and said that after they sent out 100,000 post cards to let consumers know they could use the Google PowerMeter service, about 6% had started to use it.
In June 2011 Google announced the service would cease.
See also
*
Google Energy
*
Cent-a-meter
*
Energy management software
Energy Management Software (EMS) is a general term and category referring to a variety of energy-related software applications which may provide utility bill tracking, real-time metering, building HVAC and lighting control systems, building simulat ...
*
Hohm
*
Kill A Watt
The Kill A Watt (a pun on '' kilowatt'') is an electricity usage monitor manufactured by Prodigit Electronics and sold by P3 International. It measures the energy used by devices plugged directly into the meter, as opposed to in-home energy use ...
*
Nonintrusive load monitoring
References
External links
PowerMeter official site
{{Google Inc.
PowerMeter
Electricity meters