A new customer relation model for energy utilities

The communication infrastructure that smart grids incorporate for their operation can be used to provide additional services to customers and utilities. Electric vehicles, and other equipment, can uniquely identify themselves with a home area network and ultimately with the utility. The ability to identify plugged equipment allows looking up its owner independently of the meter measuring the current flow. Electricity consumption, and bills, could be computed for the consumer, not just for the meter. This paper describes a novel customer relations model targeted at providing energy-related services with a special emphasis on automotive applications. The development status and prospective usage of a demonstration server are detailed.