Google and the Climate Group have led a call by US businesses, think tanks and green groups for the Obama Administration to roll out smart meters throughout the US.

 

In a letter to President Obama, they have called on the US government to “adopt the goal of giving every household and business access to timely, useful and actionable information on their energy use.”

 

By giving people the ability to monitor and manage their energy consumption via their PC, phone or other device, “we can unleash the forces of innovation in homes and businesses,” it said.

 

“At the same time, we can harness the power of millions of people to reduce greenhouse gas emissions - and save consumers billions of dollars.”

 

If all American households saved 15% on energy use by 2020, the greenhouse gas savings would be equivalent to taking 35 million cars off the road and would save consumers $46 billion on their energy bills, the letter said.

 

Other signatories included AT&T, Best Buy, Dow, General Electric, HP, Intel, Johnson Controls, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and Whirlpool.

 

The letter follows recommendations in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) National Broadband Plan, released last month, which said “every American should be able to use broadband to track and manage their real-time energy consumption.”

 

Said Michael Terrell, energy policy counsel for Google: “Consumers of energy are one of the nation’s largest untapped clean energy resources. In order for consumers to reach their full potential we need the Federal Government to help lead the way.”