“Compare Your Home’s Energy Use with Your Neighbor’s”

In the course of my Energy Regulation class, I did not expect to be confronted with questions about privacy. As an energy lawyer in a developing country, I’m aware of the efforts to modernize the electric grid but was entirely ignorant of its implications beyond the benefits of a more efficient and reliable energy system.

The promise of a smart grid can be summarized into this phrase: a more reliable, secure, and efficient electricity infrastructure. This is the overarching policy that encapsulates the different measures and goals related to grid modernization. A smart grid involves more than just new technologies in the transmission sector. It includes solidifying the interconnectedness between supply and demand. One of the aspects of this transition is the deployment of technologies that integrate smart appliances and consumer devices with smart meters in homes. In that way, smart meters enable consumers to better manage and control their energy consumption by giving them more information on their energy data. What’s the catch?

In the case of Naperville Smart Meter Awareness v. City of Naperville, 900 F.3d 521 (2018), the residents of Naperville raised the issue that the energy data collected at 15-minute intervals by smart meters reveal “intimate personal details” such as when they are home, when they sleep, eat, what type of appliances they use, and even when they’re charging their electric cars. The US Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit agreed with the residents and held that the data constitutes a “search” because “residents certainly have a privacy interest in their energy consumption data.” However, it was also ruled that this type of search was reasonable because of the presence of substantial government interest in promoting energy efficiency. It was stated that “the modernization of the electrical grid is a priority” and smart meters are crucial in this endeavor because they provide more efficient peak management systems, provide cheaper power, and increase grid stability.

One of the justifications provided is that the collection of energy data is “less invasive” than the normal home search. Another is that the search or collection is with “no prosecutorial intent” because it is not the law enforcement that collects the data but the public utility employees.

These justifications strip the residents’ privacy interests of meaningful recognition and implication. Being less invasive is still invasive. Being spied on by non-law enforcement is still being spied on. The openness to violation is not less or equal, it is just is and it is as constant.

Allow me to introduce Gainesville Green website that Professor Gerrard showed in class. It is the perfect thesis to the reality and horror of this openness. The website welcomes visitor to the phrase: “Compare your Home’s Energy Use with your neighbor’s,” above a search box where an address in Gainesville Florida can be entered. To the right, a searchable map can be used. Advanced search is also available where zip code, parcel number, square feet, home build year, and apartment complex can be entered.

After typing in “5319 SW 80th St” randomly, the page then shows a graph indicating the electricity consumption (kWh) of this address from March 2018 to February 2019. Further exploration reveals that water consumption, natural gas consumption, and carbon footprint from the year 1999-2019 can also be viewed. Below the graph, a map of the subdivision where this address is located is shown with varying colored markers indicating the neighboring houses’ different consumption levels. Beside the map, it says that the major uses are air conditioner, refrigerator, clothes dryer, water heater, and stove. The electricity data is even downloadable. Additional information provides that this 1463-square foot, one-story house was built in 1980, it has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and central air conditioning.

The level of detail is more than invasive, it is creepy. The homepage asks, “how green is your home?” and states, “Gainesville Green helps you save on your energy bills by giving you the tolls needed to draw meaningful comparisons.”

In that regard, the website delivers on the promise. Indeed, residents can compare each other’s consumption and more. I think the website indeed helps residents save on energy bills because they can monitor (or spy) on each other’s’ consumption and make each other either feel ashamed or superior. A website like this, assuming there are others out there, has the potential to achieve the purpose of teaching awareness and initiative by harnessing emotions much like the way social media platforms so perfectly work. This tool works not because it provides users the control they have of their energy data. It achieves its purpose of encouraging staying green not through fostering inner desire to conscientiously use energy, but through the creation of emotions of shame and anxiety in competing with each other.

It is unclear if this website was created with the consent of all whose data are accessible. But the fact of its existence allows us to reflect on the costs of gaining access to information that are supposed to help us control energy consumption and encourage energy efficiency. The promise of smart meter is to give users the control of their energy consumption by giving them access to energy data that will guide their decision-making. The Gainesville example provides only a glimpse of what are extractable. As the Naperville illustrates, the data collected are in a 15-minute interval and it can be set at closer intervals. Hence, the reality is that in gaining control, users equally lose some, either in allowing others into how they live, or by letting others’ behaviors guide theirs.

In the climate change perspective, promoting worldwide energy efficiency is a crucial measure as the world moves closer to the tipping point of irreversible damage. As promising as it is, it comes with a price as costly as our freedom. Smart meters provide the tool to control energy consumption but can also provide others a peek into our own behavior. How do we choose?