Collecting Business Value from Energy Data
Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, the Nordic Countries, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S. all use them, and in some instances mandate them. The smart meter movement has spread around the globe. The trouble is, the reams of energy data that they produce and store are often inaccessible or indecipherable to energy managers.
And smart meters are just one initiative in the emerging field of big energy data analytics that looks to manage electricity, gas, oil and water.
On the website of energy analytics startup Pilio, CEO and cofounder Catherine Bottrill says that it is a combination of technology, economics and politics that are instrumental in environmental problem-solving. But another necessary ingredient, says Bottrill, is providing people "the wherewithal and motivation to change." She and Pilio cofounder Russell Layberry combine behavioral science with energy analytics to help organizations better understand — and manage — their energy use. The heady goal with Pilio: the development of ideas and practices that will shift society toward greater environmental consciousness, says Bottrill.
Catherine Bottrill talks with Renee Boucher Ferguson, MIT Sloan Management Review contributing editor, about the state of energy analytics — and how to get better at managing and accessing data.