Xcel Energy recently announced it is working with Google to deliver tools customers can use to manage their energy use and save money. Through this collaboration, Xcel Energy is launching its first set of voice actions using the Google Assistant as a seamless way for customers to access information about improving energy efficiency in their homes.
Xcel Energy has been a proponent of wind energy for 10 years, while Google is committed to environmental sustainability. According to Xcel Energy, this collaboration will bring increasing value to customers over time. Working with new products like the Google Home Hub, Xcel Energy will expand its Google Assistant capabilities to give customers the ability to access their account information, receive notifications and personalize their energy management using voice-enabled devices, such as the Nest thermostat.
Xcel Energy has been providing smart home technologies that help its customers manage energy usage. The company and Nest began working together in 2015 with the energy savings program Seasonal Savings, which slowly fine-tunes temperatures in a customer’s home heating and cooling schedule to help them save energy and lower bills without sacrificing personal preferences or comfort.
With the recent addition of the smart thermostat energy efficiency rebates in Texas and Colorado, Xcel Energy is scaling up efforts to deploy smart thermostats for home energy management. And now, with Xcel Energy’s new Google Assistant integrations and actions, that effort is being expanded to provide an easier way for customers to use energy more efficiently.
