metered

Most laptops spend most of the time tethered to AC power, but folks who use their laptops on the go have to keep one eye on the battery level. If you rely on your laptop--and its batteries--it's worth taking a look at battery monitors, such as Battery Meter 1.0 from Mioplanet. It's a free tool that estimates how long you can run your PC on its remaining battery power as well as how long your batteries will take to recharge.

We all enjoy surprises, but not when it comes to computers, so we selected the installer's … Read more

Google's PowerMeter Web application can now track home electricity from a PC or smartphone using Wi-Fi and a home's broadband connection.

Blue Line Innovations is expected to announce a deal tomorrow to tie its PowerCost Monitor to Google's PowerMeter for monitoring home energy. Combined with a WiFi Gateway sold by Blue Line Innovations, a person can get real-time and historical information on electricity use. PowerMeter also lets people create a home energy budget, share efficiency tips, and predict costs.

Getting more information on energy use is meant to help people find ways to conserve. For example, a … Read more

We're not going to expend too many words on this one because it's not worth our time, but let's welcome the Blabber Meter to the holiday gift-gag fray. Yes, it's a desktop clock that "tallies the dollars spent in long meeting, useless conversations, marital sermons, and even never-ending phone calls."

Here's an idea: Dole it out to the senior executive team at your company and watch your salary get reduced to zero. Or perhaps you'd like a divorce. It will only cost you $24.95.

Consumers should have the right to control access to the data on their energy usage collected by smart meters and be able to decide whether to share it with third parties, a U.S. Department of Energy report is recommending.

Smart meters being deployed today use digital technology and two-way communications to control appliances in homes and keep track of energy usage.

The usage data, tied to specific homes, has "enormous potential to enable utilities or other third-party service providers to help consumers significantly reduce energy consumption, avoid costly breakdowns and repairs, and reduce the overall complexity of running … Read more

Belkin on Thursday introduced a router capable of offering real-time information and advice on home energy use via a Web interface.

The Conserve Gateway router connects with a home's existing smart meter, but is not just an overview of the energy usage for the home. It can be used to monitor and control specific devices and appliances hooked into the home network. It operates via Wi-Fi or Ethernet as a standalone router, or can tie into an existing broadband router, and also has an antenna for ZigBee communication.

The Belkin router software, which like many routers is Web accessible, … Read more

A Washington, D.C. program intended to determine the effects of smart meters on household electricity use uncovered habits that could have ramifications in the way electric utilities implement pricing plans to consumers.

Bottom line: socioeconomic status does not matter when it comes to saving energy; most customers with access to smart meters reduce overall electricity use when presented with their habits and a financial incentive to save. Most would also rather curb usage or face high premiums a few times a year during extreme peak events than worry about keeping track of daily peak and off-peak usage hours. So-called … Read more

An independent review of smart meters installed in Northern California by utility Pacific Gas & Electric found no technical flaws, but a poor roll-out with customers.

The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday released the evaluation of PG&E's controversial smart-meter program, which was conducted by consulting company The Structure Group.

After PG&E installed two-way meters in Bakersfield, Calif., customers complained that their utility prices shot up, which they blamed on the new meters. Since then, there have been questions over PG&E's handling of the program by regulators and push-back from various communities … Read more

Networking giant Cisco Systems announced Tuesday a deal with meter maker Itron to advance Internet Protocol-based communications for the power grid.

The two companies will create a reference design for using the IPv6 networking protocol to connect everything from people's homes to power distribution equipment on the grid. That reference design will form the basis for gear installed in smart meters, sensors, and computing systems inside utilities, Cisco executives said.

As part of the deal, Itron will license and embed Cisco's IP technology in its meters and distribute Cisco hardware as part Itron's smart-grid deployments.

Right now, … Read more

Google.org has tacked on energy-efficiency recommendations to PowerMeter, one of many features planned for its home energy Web application.

The latest feature, accessible from the Take Action button, gives people a way to organize tasks for making a home more efficient. The recommendations are generated based on the type and size of a house as well as some basic electricity usage information.

As people take more steps to reduce energy use, the application generates new recommendations, said Google PowerMeter product manager Ryan Falor in a company blog.

PowerMeter graphs out real-time and historical electricity usage information of a person'… Read more