Google Ditches PowerMeter Application

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Google has announced that it will retire Google PowerMeter, a product that the company said "didn’t catch on the way we would have hoped".

The search giant said on its blog that the tool for monitoring energy usage did serve as an "influential model" for consumer access to electricity data. PowerMeter will be retired September 16.

Google launched PowerMeter two years ago, offering it through partnerships with utilities and forging deals with manufacturers of electricity monitoring devices, CNET reported.

Google said that PowerMeter, and the company's Google Health application, "were based on the idea that with more and better information, people can make smarter choices, whether in regard to managing personal health and wellness, or saving money and conserving energy at home.

"Momentum is building toward making energy information more readily accessible, and it’s exciting to see others drive innovation and pursue opportunities in this important new market. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished with PowerMeter and look forward to what will develop next in this space," the blog added.

CNET said that Google had talked as recently as April of continuing to develop the product, and that Google's former director of climate change initiatives, Dan Reicher, last year spoke of adding water and natural gas monitoring.

CNET said that Google is not the only company to find it hard to expand energy management applications beyond a small core of ultra energy-conscious consumers. Microsoft has said that it plans to change the focus of its Hohm application, from residential energy management to electric vehicle charging, through a partnership with Ford.

Environment + Energy Leader