Google PowerMeter

Google say they are working on "PowerMeter". This will be a web based application reporting household power use in detail. A low cost energy meter reports power use to the Google application when then infers what is using the energy from its power use signature. This is not the first proposal for such an application and it is not clear that even Google's brand can make it more than a niche product for a few energy conscious people. Google might do well to offer an expanded service which allows for monitoring of other home resource use and offer billing services for cluster housing.

As an example my apartment has a communal solar boosted gas hot water system. This uses very little gas and results in a very small gas bill. But the gas costs are dwarfed by the fixed fee the gas company charges for doing the billing. Instead of interfacing the data logger in the basement to the gas company, the body corporate could connect the logger to Google and have them do the billing.