iControl, a Palo Alto, California based startup, plans to bundle energy management with its home security software.  The company is using home security as an entrance into the home energy management market and believes the two areas are a natural complement.

iControl’s new ConnectedLife Energy Management software was introduced on November 3 and homeowners will be able to use it as part of a home security system offering from ADT or GE, according to iControl CEO Paul Dawes.

Dawes said his company is working on more partnerships both in home security and in broadband that will provide the software service in the future.  Pilot projects with utilities are also in the works; iControl has developed a model where utilities provide the service for $50 per household.

For now iControl will bundle energy management - including support for smart meters, smart appliances, and the like – with support for motion sensors, door locks, security cameras, and lighting systems that its system manages for its partners in home security.  ConnectedLife Energy Management is entirely based upon Internet Protocol, the same standard the Internet is based upon.

Dawes said the “broadband home management” arena incorporates medical monitoring for the home as well.  A person needing constant monitoring of a home medical device would be included here.  iControl is able to work with a wide variety of devices including those built around WiFi, HomePlug, Z-Wave, and proprietary wireless security protocols developed by Honeywell and GE.  The company’s utility offering is built around the widely-accepted ZigBee protocol.

Making the system available for utilities is a lot different than marketing the system as a component of home security systems.  Not everyone chooses to purchase an ADT security system but we all rely upon electricity to power our homes.  Home security systems can add the new service and then recover the costs involved as a percentage of a multi-year contract established with the customer.

There are no contracts involved with energy providers so costs incurred by the utilities are passed straight to the consumer.  As a result the utility industry is highly regulated and any rate hikes must be approved by state regulatory boards.  Oftentimes regulatory-approved hikes are politically charged and iControl understands that increases must be kept at a minimum or regulators will balk at the proposal.

iControl believes consumers and utilities are willing to share the $50 per household cost – or a total of $75 if bundled with a smart thermostat.  The $25 smart thermostat price is about half of any currently available device.  iControl’s unnamed hardware partner is expected to announce the affordable device in the next few months.

Numerous startups anticipate how utilities will react to this developing market.  Big players, such as Microsoft and Google, have released early versions of their home energy management platforms as well and some have bought the smaller players in order to secure technologies outside their traditional core competencies.

iControl Networks, Inc.
3045 Park Blvd.
Palo Alto, CA 94306
http://www.icontrol.com

ADT
1 Town Center Rd.
Boca Raton, FL 33486
http://www.adt.com

General Electric
3135 Easton Turnpike
Fairfield, CT 06828
http://www.ge.com

Honeywell International Inc.
101 Columbia Road
Morristown, NJ 07962
http://www.honeywell.com

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