Tendril recently said it would acquire EnergySavvy, a developer of customer engagement solutions, in order to round out its energy management offerings and develop a “single-solution suite” for utilities looking to deliver a “modern residential customer experience”. This is Tendril's second acquisition of the year; in January, the company acquired energy analytics provider EEme, building out its disaggregation capabilities.

Con Edison is giving customers that use solar energy or electric cars a device that lets them avoid the cost of upgrading the home’s circuit breaker panel. The device is called ConnectDER and is free of charge to customers who power their homes with solar energy and connect electric vehicle chargers. The device is mounted to the electric meter and connected to both the meter and the solar panels or vehicle charger. The data is then fed back to Con Edison, showing workers the power generated by the panels or consumed by electric vehicles charged at the home.

A growing number of states are working to increase access to customer energy usage data, both for customers themselves, and with customer permission for third-party designees, a new report from the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center. That is just one of several grid modernization trends seen in states in the first quarter of 2019, the center said in its new 50 States of Grid Modernization report, which was released this month.

GMP introduced a pilot recently to use battery storage systems as meters, in order to provide a clean back-up power source and energy savings. GMP, which has partnered with Tesla for years, has a vision to have batteries in every home. The pilot includes 250 customers enrolled with the utility and 250 customers enrolled with third-party vendors, using GMP's Bring-Your-Own-Device incentives, to add two Tesla Powerwall battery systems per customer.

Are your utility customers hanging on to inefficient ways of paying their bills, like making in-person counter payments or mailing paper checks? Old habits die hard, but there are ways of encouraging these customers to adopt digital bill payments. According to the most recent Survey of Consumer Payment Choice, approximately 60 percent of consumer bills are paid online. While this number represents the majority, it also means that four in 10 bill payments still rely on manual methods.

Homeowners looking to save money on their energy bills have a host of options today, from utility programs to efficient appliances and smart devices. But according to a residential energy management company, there are more phantom loads and wasted electricity than ever before. “There is a long list of random things where energy is being wasted,” Sense CEO Mike Phillips told Utility Dive. “And it's not five — it's 1,000. From the hot tub with a bad cover to the old TV in the basement.”