Goal No. 6: To ensure that America leads in the clean energy economy, every American should be able to use broadband to track and manage their real-time energy consumption.
America can no longer rely on fossil fuels and imported oil.To improve national security, reduce pollution and increase national competitiveness, the United States must lead, not follow, in the clean energy economy. Encouraging renewable power, grid storage and vehicle electrification are important steps to improve American energy independence and energy efficiency; to enable these technologies at scale, the country will need to modernize the electric grid with broadband and advanced communications.
Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that when people get feedback on their electricity usage, they make simple behavioral changes that save energy.5 Real-time data can also inform automated thermostats and appliances, allowing consumers to save energy and money while helping the country reduce the need for expensive new power plants.
Chapter 12 outlines specific recommendations to ensure that consumers can use broadband to gain access to and improve their control of their real-time energy information. With strong cybersecurity and privacy protections, consumers and their authorized third parties should be able to get access to real-time usage information from smart meters and historical billing information over the Internet.