Not Throwing Away Our Shot: How We Can Get Smart Homes Right & Why We Need To

Smart home technologies are here, but their full potential is still just emerging. As our energy landscape shifts towards more renewable generation and increasing electrification, smart and grid-interactive technologies are becoming increasingly important to reshape and rebalance energy usage at specific times to ensure grid reliability, resilience, and affordability, and to protect customers from shouldering the costs of the transition. With the recent passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), billions of dollars in federal funding offer an historic opportunity to advance home performance in new ways to address broader goals of decarbonization, energy affordability, equity, and resiliency. Smart homes will be critical to meeting these goals and ensuring that all stakeholders benefit, but challenges with their deployment remain. In this session, we will delve into the specific new opportunities to enable smart homes through IIJA and IRA federal funding and look at what else is needed to ensure these federal funds reach maximum potential benefit. Hear from a panel of experts on the evolving landscape of smart home tools and needs, lessons learned from research and program implementation, and the role of human behavior and education in ensuring performance.