Christine Hertzog:
There’s an amazing amount of lifestyle information that can be extrapolated with granular energy consumption data from any residence.
In the traditional electricity grid, we have always been data producers and utilities have always been the data consumers – gathering kilowatthour (KWh) data so it can charge us for our electricity use.
The Smart Grid delivers a richer data set and the potential for new commercial uses of personal energy consumption data. The pool of data consumers of our personal energy information may grow well beyond the traditional utilities, and we as the data producers need to consider these questions:
- Who “owns” my personal energy consumption data?
- What rules govern its availability, storage, and disposal?
- Who makes these rules and how are they enforced?
- What are potential commercial uses of my personal energy consumption data?
The rules about privacy of this new data need to be developed so that we as the data producers ensure smart management of its consumption.