Ever since Smart Meters were introduced many informed and concerned people have voiced concerns about the information gathered by these devices. The basic information is of course the amount of power used by month for billing. Gathering this billing number by a Smart Meter seems to be a huge over-kill. So what else is gathered? Power usage every 15 minutes. Power usage by device if ZigBee communication is used. And maybe lots more.
There is a company called ONZO that is helping the power companies to gather this data and use it and possibly sell it. Is this a benefit to the consumer? Are there any problems with this data gathering business? 
How Utilities can Better Use Customer Data
Dr Katie Russell explores how much maligned utility companies must capitalise on their customer data in order to reduce churn and create customer loyalty as they play catch up with other industry sectors.
ONZO combines the science of energy analytics with load disaggregation, energy lifestyle behaviour analysis and probabilistic forecasting to give utilities and their customers unprecedented insights into how, where and when energy is used. Leveraging granular smart meter data, ONZO’s patented algorithms result in richer, highly accurate, customer-specific insights that help utilities improve customer engagement and energy efficiency, while reducing churn and creating new revenue opportunities.
The company is headquartered in London, UK, with an office in the US, and works with clients all over the world.
Read all about it in this ONZO-authored exclusive article for Engage Business Media. Click Here
See short ONZO video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uluKjzqHDz0