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30% of U.S. broadband households intend to purchase a smart lightbulb by end of year

Vivint, Comcast, SMUD, Direct Energy, Nest, and more to address growing smart home and energy market at 2016 Smart Energy Summit: Engaging Consumers

New smart home research from Parks Associates shows 30% of U.S. broadband households intend to purchase a smart lightbulb by end of 2015, while 17% intend to buy a smart kitchen appliance and 14% plan to purchase a smart thermostat. The research firm will discuss strategies for utilities, service providers, and manufacturers to integrate these smart products into their home systems and services at Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, February 22-24 in Austin, Texas.

“The top five brands of lightbulb manufacturers - GE, Philips Hue, INSTEON, Belkin, and LIFX - make up 78% of the market for smart lightbulbs, which is the fastest-growing category of smart home devices,” said Stuart Sikes, President, Parks Associates. “Adding connectivity leads to unique use cases in traditional product categories – owners can use a smartphone not just to control a smart lightbulb but often can change colors, add additional security, or create lighting scenes in a connected home. We will see even more experimentation and new use cases emerging from these and other categories in 2016.”

The seventh-annual Smart Energy Summit features panel discussions with utilities, telecom and security companies, retailers, and OEMs. These leading companies in the smart home markets will discuss key developments, technology advancements, partnership opportunities, and pilot projects to promote demand response, energy efficiency, and interoperability.

“The Smart Energy Summit is one of my favorite events of the year because it sits right at the intersection of technology, consumer, and the companies - whether startups, utilities, or Fortune 500s - trying to figure out where the IoT market is heading,” said Matt Tolliver, VP of Business Development, EcoFactor. “I can't think of an event where I learn more or make better contacts than the Smart Energy Summit.”

“Making consumers smarter is as important as making homes smarter,” said Dave Oberholzer, VP, Business and Partner Development, WeatherBug Home. “Effective partnerships have to not only quietly automate and optimize connected devices, they must engage, inform, and delight consumers on what matters to them.”

“Historically employed as a last resort on the most extreme weather days of the year, new technologies enable demand response to be used as a year-round operational resource offering unparalleled predictability, reliability, and flexibility,” said Erin Keys, Director, Business Development and Strategy, Comverge. “The rise of operational demand response can help utilities address critical emerging challenges, such as alleviating constrained load pockets and efficiently integrating distributed energy resources. I look forward to presenting at the Smart Energy Summit and helping utilities understand how to implement these next-generation demand response programs.”

“Customers now have the opportunity to get a deep understanding into their energy usage, and I’m excited at the range of personalized insights enabled through smart meter data as well as connected devices in the home that will allow customers to maximize the information and control of their energy usage,” said Shuchi Roy, Director, Innovation Strategy, Direct Energy.

360 View Update: Smart Product Adoption shows smart lightbulbs are the leading category for future smart home purchases, followed by smart home/kitchen appliances, and then smart thermostats, smart blinds/drapes, and smart power strips are tied for third.

“The emerging smart home device categories, such as sprinkler controllers and blinds, are more fragmented,” Sikes said. “Startups are gaining share in multiple product categories as industry veterans work to keep pace with the now rapidly evolving market.”

Smart Product Adoptionevaluates the trends in smart product adoption, assesses consumer preferences for different channels to market, and identifies the impact of different demographic attributes on adoption of smart home products. Parks Associates analysts will discuss this research at Smart Energy Summit, which features the following keynotes:

  • Seth Frader-Thompson, President, EnergyHub
  • Elizabeth Killinger, President of NRG Retail and Reliant, NRG
  • Paul Campbell, VP Innovation / Head of Silicon Valley Innovation Center, Schneider Electric


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Event Speakers:

Bidgely -Steve Nguyen, Head of Marketing

Comcast - Dennis Mathew, Vice President, Xfinity Home Product

Comverge - Erin Keys, Director, Business Development & Strategy

Direct Energy - Shuchi Roy, Director, Innovation Strategy

ecobee - Stuart Lombard, President and CEO

EcoFactor - Matt Tolliver, VP of Business Development

Enphase - Ilen Zazueta-Hall, Director, Product Management for Energy Management

Icontrol Networks - Letha McLaren, Chief Marketing Officer

Lakeview Group - Barry Haaser, President, Managing Director & CEO of OpenADR Alliance

Nest - Andy Baynes, Energy Partnerships

NextEnergy - Dave Hurst, Director, Market Analysis

Oklahoma Gas & Electric - Harry Emerson, Smart Grid/Hours Program, Director, Product Development

PlanetEcosystems - V. Rory Jones, President and CEO

Salus Inc. - Scott Hublou, VP of Global Connected Services

Silver Spring Networks - Matt Smith, Senior Director of Utility Solutions

Simple Energy - Justin Segall, President, Co-Founder

SmartThings - Dan Lieberman, Head of Research & Standards

SMUD - Denver Hinds, R&D Project Manager

Tendril - Dave Grant, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing

TXU Energy - Vinnie Balaji, Sr. Manager Business Development

Unilectric - Dan Van Ostrand, President

Vivint - Jeremy Warren, Chief Technology Officer

WeatherBug Home - Dave Oberholzer, VP, Business and Partner Development

Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association - Speaker TBD

Early sponsors for Smart Energy Summit include Tendril, Affinegy, Alarm.com, ecobee, PlanetEcosystems, WeatherBug Home, Schneider Electric, and State Farm. Event supporters include Antenna Systems & Technology, Conference Guru, FierceEnergy, HomePlug Alliance, HomeToys.com, IoT Today, KNXtoday, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, OpenADR Alliance, Remote Site & Equipment Management magazine, SmartGridNews, Utility Dive, and WSN Buzz.

More information about the Smart Energy Summit is available at www.SES2016.com. To request specific research data, contact Holly Sprague at hsprague@gmail.com or 720-987-6614.

About Smart Energy Summit

Parks Associates’ 15th annual Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer is co-located with DISTRIBUTECH 2024 on February 27-28 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.  Smart Energy Summit addresses energy and renewables technology trends in the residential and small-to-medium business markets.

Industry players join expert panels and networking sessions to address the expansion and monetization of energy management and other energy-focused offerings through consumer engagement, new business models, unique partnerships, and innovative technologies.

The conference also features 2024 virtual sessions January 23, July 23, and October 10. Follow the event on Twitter/X at @SmartEnergySmt and #SmartEnergy24. For information on speaking, sponsoring, or attending Smart Energy Summit, visit www.smartenergysmt.com.