91ÊÓƵ

Smart grid technology is seen by many as the holy grail for achieving greater energy efficiency in homes. But a smart grid project in Texas will take things a step further: using smart grid to help people with bad credit pay their electricity bills.

According to the , Dallas-based retail energy provider Ambit Energy recently launched its , which allows customers with bad credit to prepay their electricity for the month. Customers can then monitor their energy use online; customers’ usage is monitored every 15 minutes and emails and texts let customers know if they are close to exhausting their monthly allotment.

The energy use information comes from a smart meter installed at the customer’s home. Smart meters are advanced electricity meters that identifies energy consumption in greater detail than a regular meter.

This seems like a good deal on both ends. The utility gets paid, and the customer avoids dinging their credit further while learning what actions contribute to higher energy bills.