Summary
1. The original Bell Atlantic tried to get into the energy management business back in the 1980s. 2. The RBOC was almost successful in its endeavor. 3. The same concept will probably work much better today.
Analysis
With energy shortages and high electrical bills, AT&T, Verizon, and other large service providers have a better chance than in the past to succeed in the area of energy management. Along with wireless, we could easily be talking about a fifth play. Obviously, the power companies tend to only have one offering – and so they could get bypassed. Still, it remains to be seen “whether homeowners will want to pay what telecoms will want to charge to make it worth their while.”
Given the advantages that utilities bring to the table, it is not out of the question that partnerships with the telcos will be the principal way to go. It may never make sense for the big carriers to “leap in front.” But then, of course, there is the issue of each party getting adequate margins to make it worth the effort. Also, the actual interest level by consumers in this service seems to still be fairly unknown in the US.
