Civic Impact

This past October, after five years, $1 billion spent and more than a little controversy, the Ontario government completed the installation of 4.7 million smart meters in homes and businesses across the province. 

 

The up-to-the minute smart readers not only allow consumers to see the energy they're using in real-time, it also gives them the choice to save money by using less energy during peak hours. But the move away from clunky wall-mounted meters to the smart meter is only one stepping-stone (albeit an essential one) in the creation of a smarter grid. 

 

In an announcement made early last week, the Government of Ontario and MaRS Discovery District (MaRS) announced the Green Button Initiative, a new program meant to get Ontario consumers, distributors and software developers ready to take another step forward in efficient energy consumption. 

 

The ultimate aim, said Ontario minister of energy Chris Bentley at last week’s press conference "is to give consumers of energy choices: the choice to use less, the choice to use more, the choice to save money and the choice to adjust your use."

 

The way to give customers more choice, says Bentley, is to give them more information. 

 

But in order to get more customizable information about energy usage, there needs to be standard data format for Ontario's utilities. And that's what the Green Button initiative is working to sort out. Once the data is standardized, software developers will be able to use it to create tools that will let Ontarians monitor, manage and adjust their energy use in real-time from their computers and smart devices.

 

The Green Button initiative is essentially a working-group designed to bring different actors to the table in order to move towards this common platform. Starting next month representative from MaRS and the Ontario Government will begin meeting with utility providers, government agencies and the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s Office to begin thinking through possible strategies. 

 

"This could have a profound impact on Ontario customers, small businesses and innovators," says Joe Greenwood, program director at MaRS "and we at MaRS are very excited to be a part of that and to bring custumers, the government and technology partners together to discuss this important opportunity."

 

"It's really about utilizing the information we're getting from smart meters. It's about providing the initial first step to make that information the most useful."