Tools like Current Cost's devices allow consumers to monitor how much energy they use in real-time. PowerMeter can get this data directly from utilities that use Internet-connected smart meters and from partners like Current Cost that develop hardware devices that can monitor any house's energy use.

More than Just a Side Project

Until now, PowerMeter mostly looked like a side-project for Google, but the inclusion of Current Cost in its partner ecosystem makes it clear that the company is indeed taking this market seriously. Currently, however, only small number of utilities have partnered directly with Google. It has also signed up a number of hardware developers that offer real-time energy monitoring, including The Energy Detective and AlertMe.

Earlier this year, Google also launched an API for PowerMeter that allows hardware manufacturers to create appliances that include PowerMeter as a built-in feature. Current Cost is using the API to send its data to Google.

Google has long been highly interested in energy projects and even made a number of investments in alternative energy companies recently. With Hohm, Microsoft has also launched a similar initiative, though Microsoft's emphasis is more on giving users tips to save energy and less on real-time monitoring.

How Will this Work in the Real World?

According to Google's developer guide, consumers who purchase a PowerMeter-compatible device would activate the device by surfing to the device's built-in HTML server (every PowerMeter device must have one) and configure and activate it. After linking the device to a PowerMeter account - and Google is clearly taking privacy seriously here judging from the instructions - the device will then ping Google every 10 minutes via a secure HTTPS connection to upload its data.

Google and Energy

Google has obviously been very interested in the energy business lately. Just last month, the company got regulatory approval to buy energy in bulk. Google is also using solar panels to power it's Mountain View, CA headquarters and has invested in a number of green energy projects and companies, including eSolar, a company that plans to develop numerous large solar energy projects around the world.

It's also noteworthy that Hohm was developed on top of Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform.

Like most similar projects, Microsoft's Hohm will hook into the data streams from utilities once they bring their smart grids online Correction: Hohm can bring in data even from utilities that don't support smart meters yet, as long as the utility provider provides a data stream of some form to Microsoft, even if it is not real-time. For now, Microsoft is only rolling out support for 4 utilities (Puget Sound Energy, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Seattle City Light, and Xcel Energy), but it's only a matter of time before more utilities will roll out similar projects and smart meters, and as Microsoft's Troy Batterberry, the product unit manager for Hohm, told us in an interview last week, Microsoft plans to make a long-term investment here and support data streams from utilities that offers them. Batterberry also mentioned that Microsoft plans to announce a number of additional partners in the next few months.

Models, Predictions, Education

Besides bringing in real-time information from smart meters, though, Hohm also provides users with interesting data about their own energy consumption even when their utilities are not online yet. All a user has to do is answer some basic questions and Hohm will provide an estimate of a household's energy consumption. For a full assessment, Hohm can ask over 200 questions and the more answers a user provides, the better the estimate will be. In the back-end, Microsoft is constantly tweaking these models based on the real-life data it receives from users whose utilities already allow data to be downloaded to Hohm. Microsoft's Troy Batterberry also told us that these models are already quite reliable, but will only get better as more users enter their data and as Microsoft gets to compare its models with more real-time data from its partners.

Batterberry also stressed that Microsoft wants to make Hohm useful for users right now, not just those whose utilities use smart meters. To educate these users, Hohm also features a large section with resources and tips for saving energy.

Good Now - But Will Get Better Once Real-Time Data is Available for More Users

A simple model, of course, wouldn't be very interesting if users can't experiment with different settings like switching out their standard light bulbs for energy-saving ones, for example. Hohm does a nice job here, but in the end, the real advantage of using Hohm or similar systems will only be unlocked once users can get real-time (or almost real-time) access to their energy data. Once that happens, the "Prius-effect" can then set in, where users change their behavior based on the real-time feedback about their car's (or, in this case, their house's) real-time energy consumption.

PowerMeter is "a Google gadget that can show consumers their personal electricity consumption right on a home computer," according to today's announcement on the Google Blog. "Our software relies on 'smart meters' (or other metering devices) as a data source. Over the past several months we've been looking to partner with utilities that are installing (or have already installed) this equipment in their customers' homes. We're energized by our very first Google PowerMeter partners."

PowerMeter allows consumers to track their energy consumption in real time (or very nearly real time) on their personal computers. It relies on data from utilities that use smart meter technology. Collectively, "smart grid" tech makes up one of the fastest-growing sectors of green tech and is being promoted by many as a way of addressing energy independence and climate change issues.

Again, from the Google PowerMeter page, "We think Google PowerMeter offers more useful and actionable feedback than complicated monthly paper bills that provide little detail on consumption or how to save energy. But Google PowerMeter is just a start; it will take a lot of different groups working together to create what the world really needs: a path to smarter power."