FREE CFL’s! Scratch that. FREE LED’s! Scratch that. FREE...smart thermostats? Etc., etc., etc. Engage the customer with enticing free energy efficiency products, reminding them that they will SAVE ENERGY and SAVE MONEY. Boom. Your job is done, right? Enter smart grid optimization. Enter a new world where customers are becoming part of the process, not just as benefactors but rather engaged decision makers. 

As utility customers grow and change, the services and products they need—and the shopping experience to buy them—do too. That’s why marketplace enhancements might be a good upgrade for your online store. These enhancements can:

Net metering has created some issues in terms of compensation for distributed solar. Under net energy metering, utilities compensate solar owners at the same retail rate for power sent to the grid as the customers pay for the electricity they consume. It has been almost too successful, utilities say, as it allows customers with solar arrays to dramatically reduce their bills, shifting the burden of infrastructure costs to the remaining customers.

Traditional utility-decreed regulation-controlled rates may soon be an anachronism. Rate-making services are shifting toward a more customer-centric approach, placing a higher value on customer demand. Even more radical yet, but further down the pipeline, are subscription-based electricity services packages, modeled on companies like Amazon and Netflix.

Behind the wheel of electric vehicles (EVs) are early adopters, paving the way for the rest of us to jump on that electric-powered bandwagon. According to a recent article in Utility Dive, “Right now there are more than 250 million vehicles registered in the United States, and less than 1 million of those are electric. It's a drop in the bucket—so far, anyway—and to date, there has been modest impact on the electric grid.”