Pike Research - Smart Grid Consumer Survey
Preferences and Attitudes about Smart Meters, Home Energy Management, Demand Response Programs, and Smart Appliances
One of the foremost goals of the smart grid movement is to provide consumers greater visibility into, and control over, their use of energy in the home. However, this objective has proven to be an elusive one for utilities and other key stakeholders in the industry, and the promise of the smart energy home remains largely unfulfilled. Despite the fact that consumer-facing applications have been a central component of utilities’ business cases and rate cases for smart meter deployments, many customers have been less enthusiastic about smart meters than the utilities originally anticipated, and in fact smart meters have been the subject of significant consumer opposition in some service territories. Meanwhile, utilities and their vendors have struggled to identify the appropriate user experiences and business models for home energy management and smart energy devices. Most pilot programs in the United States have continued to operate at a small scale as stakeholders explore these issues, and a number of utilities are wrestling with the fundamental question of what their role will be in terms of providing energy services on the customer side of the meter.
In order to establish a framework for understanding consumer interest and attitudes related to a select group of smart grid concepts, Pike Research conducted a web-based survey of 1,050 U.S. consumers, based on a nationally representative and demographically balanced sample, in the fall of 2011.
This Pike Research report analyzes the dynamics of consumer demand, preferences, attitudes, and price sensitivity related to four key smart grid product and service categories: smart meters, home energy management, demand response, and smart appliances. The survey, which is based on a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults, includes a detailed examination of demand dynamics, segmented by various demographic and behavioral characteristics.
Key Questions Addressed
- How familiar are U.S. consumers with the concept of smart meters?
- What are the biggest perceived benefits of smart meters, and what are consumers’ key objections?
- What concerns do consumers have about smart grid products and services, and how do these concerns vary by topic?
- What is the overall level of interest among consumers for smart meters, home energy management, demand response, and smart appliances?
- How do these interest levels vary by demographic segment and behavioral segment?
- What is the level of consumer price sensitivity for smart grid products and services?
- How much would consumers expect to save on their electric bills by adopting smart grid products and services?