Steyer-Taylor Center Fellow Jonathan Koomey comments on how applications designed to reduce energy usage in the home could help lower utility bills for The New York Times. 

Dustin Bond of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, trimmed his electricity bill last summer by about 40 percent thanks to the sensors and clever software of a digital thermostat.

His Nest thermostat monitors the household and outside temperatures and the family comings and goings, and it offers energy-saving suggestions and nudges on a smartphone app. Mr. Bond’s story seems proof of the bright energy future made possible by the new Internet-era devices of the so-called smart home.

…

“If you can shift the load for a few hours on a summer day, that is a big deal to the utility company,” said Jonathan Koomey, a research fellow at the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University. “That’s where the big saving is going to be.”

Read More