Adam James for ThinkProgress on the Smart Grid:

Data could belong to the consumer, but be viewed by the utility “blind” and in aggregate. This would make the specific energy usage of each home (the inferences you can make from the energy ‘signature’) the property of the homeowner, but the data over the scope of a utilities territory readable. This way, third parties could work with utilities for access to aggregate data to improve their top-level technologies, and with individuals to craft the specific functions of their technologies.

I think this is a sensible approach, which should be pursued by regulators everywhere. It should be mandatory to give customers full access (which means access in a standards-compliant format and for use as the customer sees fit) to their energy data. However, what we see in the industry right now is a vertical integration, where, at most, you get a graphical representation of your consumption data. To be truly effective, however, you need to have access to the real-time data stream.

This “Freedom to Tinker” with what is essentially your data is paramount to changing the energy industry.