GE Cisco and the Smart Grid in Florida

General Electric, Cisco Systems, and FPL Group announced an alliance to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy and want to give the citizens of Miami more control over how they generate, consume and conserve electrical power in their city.

The smart grid will provide a platform for a  new generation of applications that enable companies and consumers to ‘plug-in’ to the network and allow them to manage their energy consumption in customized ways.

For example, an intelligence will be built-in to connected devices that will allow users to:

• Control air conditioners and high power usage appliances, allowing them to be turned on or off during peak usage hours.  When and how this is allowed will soon be controlled by the home or business owner.
• Control temperature using programmable thermostats via home energy displays