There is clearly a lot of interest in Smart Grid Technology. Through the integration energy, IT and telecom technologies there is a substantial effort to build the infrastructure and applications to support a more energy efficient world.  Smart Grid technology holds the promise of offering end-to-end communications connectivity from the utility operations center to the Home Area Network (HAN).

Recently, I had the opportunity to do a little research on some of the activity around Home Energy Management systems and the Home Area Network.  I was surprised to discover how much activity there is in pursuit of a market that is still in the incubation phase.  In the market research report "Smart Grid 2010" by GTM Research, it is recognized that today this technology is in the pilot stage.  The report goes on to project that by 2015 Consumer Energy Management Systems will be "gaining traction as 'set-it-and-forget' technologies make energy management simple to use and cost-effective," and by 2020 the technology will be "routine."  

Pike Research forecasts that 14.4 million units of home energy management display devices will be shipped by 2015.