Microsoft Hohm Connected to the First Utility in the US

Microsoft debuted Hohm in June 2009, offering customers a Cloud-based application designed to help them upload and monitor energy consumption within the household and, as of October 7th, 2009, the service is connected for the first time with a utility in the United States. Seattle City Light announced that its customers would be the first in the US to benefit from the ability to connect to Microsoft Hohm and get insights into data generated from their electricity consumption. Hohm is designed as an online home-energy management service that enables users to not only monitor energy use but also access personalized energy conservation recommendations set up to lower consumption and to cut costs.

“Our customers understand that energy conservation means lower bills and less impact on our environment,” Superintendent Jorge Carrasco noted. “We want to help them use less of our product by giving them the tools like Hohm to manage their energy use wisely.”

In June, when Microsoft launched Hohm, Seattle City Light was among the Redmond company’s early partners on this specific project. The software giant revealed at that time that Puget Sound Energy, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Xcel Energy were the other three early adopters of Hohm. City Light is the utility used by all Seattle residents, who now have the ability to connect their data directly to Hohm.

“We are proud to work with organizations like Seattle City Light who share a belief that their customers can and want to be responsible consumers of energy,” added Troy Batterberry, principal product unit manager for the Microsoft Hohm team. “Providing this kind of data connection through Microsoft Hohm makes it easy for customers to gain insight into how their decisions and actions impact their energy usage and cost. It also demonstrates Seattle City Light’s commitment to improving energy efficiency throughout the community.”