Dive Brief:
- Consumers in Chicago are reporting that Commonwealth Edison is throwing up roadblocks to accessing and sharing data collected by their smart meters, according to the Chicago Tribune.
- Illinois regulators are currently considering who owns that data but ComEd won't share the data until regulators make that determination.
- Update: ComEd says it wants consumers to have access to their energy usage data and that consumers can access their own data through their online accounts. Customers who want third parties to have access to their data, however, must give it to those parties themselves, according to ComEd.
Dive Insight:
The story is part of a growing debate over ownership of customer's usage data and how that data can be shared, accessed and utilized.
The Chicago Tribune reports on a building manager who wanted tenant companies to use energy more efficiently, but was told that accessing usage data required filling out forms that don't exist. But the anecdote highlights the larger story that seems to be rapidly brewing: As utilities install smart meters and begin collecting a wealth of energy data, who owns that data?
Last month, ratepayer advocates filed with state regulators a proposal that would give customers the right to automatically receive detailed information about their own energy usage. The Environmental Defense Fund and Citizens Utility Board filed the "Open Data Access Framework" proposal with state regulators to give customers easy access to their data.
"This new framework will make Illinois the first state that requires utilities, at a minimum, to adopt a national data access standard [...] that will ensure consumers have easy and timely access to their own energy data," said Andrew Barbeau, EDF consultant and president of the Accelerate Group.
The Illinois model would be based around the "Green Button Connect" concept being used in California, which allows utility customers to download their data in a standardized format.
