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Opower and Nest are leading the growing market in home energy management, says a new report by Navigant.
The market sputtered at first, but gained momentum in 2014, says Neil Struther, principal research analyst with Nagivant in this podcast.
“It has gained momentum because Opower, Nest, Honeywell and others have seen a fairly competitive market and have come out with products that seem to resonate with utilities and with homeowners. The tools are better, people are recognizing they are better and out there,” he says.
In this more competitive market, Nest and Opower are leading because they have many customers and partners ….
“In the case of Opower, it has over 90 utility partners. It has had a lot of success helping utilities reduce their load across the board. Maybe one to three percent savings isn’t a lot, but utilities can be more efficient if the total customer base is taking action,” he says.
“Opower has very comprehensive solutions, and is across the globe, including New Zealand and Hong Kong — great solution, a lot of customers, and a far reach,” adds Paige Leuschner, research associate at Navigant.
As for Nest, the backing of Google has boosted the company’s reach. The company has a wide range of customers — consumers as well as utilities — and offers home energy control via smart phones, she adds.
Both companies boast a good market strategy and a strong vision, she says.
These conclusions are based on Navigant’s ranking of companies on a scale from 1 to 100 in a variety of categories, including strategy, vision, go to market, and number of partners. The companies’s’ sales and marketing and staying power are also factored into the rankings.
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