Facebook, PG&E Team on Social Energy Saving App

Hey, Energy Spy Insiders and everybody else that would like to conserve energy – this is three articles in one. The first article is titled “Facebook, PG&E Team on Social Energy Saving App.” The second article is posted below and is titled, “Facebook, PG&E team on social energy saving app.” And then the article “Facebook app promotes energy conservation with peer pressure.”

Looks like the Green Button, Opower, Obama, and Facebook are joining forces to provide us with some energy saving help. Read on…

Go Here To Get Started

Facebook, PG&E Team on Social Energy Saving App

original article,   http://links.opower.mkt4547.com

It’s here! Welcome to the launch of Opower’s social energy app—and the future of how we all think about the energy we use at home.

Thanks for expressing interest in hearing from Opower once we’re available to you. That time has come! Click here to get started.

Since we announced this initiative with Facebook and NRDC, we’ve partnered with some of the top utilities in the USA. As of today, we’re thrilled that more than 20 million households now have the ability to connect with their utility account quickly, safely, and easily—and start comparing their home energy use with their friends and family.

Log in and find out if that includes your utility. Even if not, you’ll still be able to participate in the social energy app.

With the Opower social energy app, you’ll be able to:

1.  See how your energy use compares to that in similar homes

2.  Find out how your energy use stacks up against your friends and family

3.  Join groups to participate in energy-saving challenges

4.  Share savings accomplishments on Facebook

5.  Participate in utility-sponsored energy-saving challenges

What are you waiting for? Head on over to Opower to get started!

Now the second article:

Facebook, PG&E team on social energy saving app

by blog.seattlepi.com

I know why he is smiling

Facebook has joined PG&E, City of Palo Alto Utilities and 14 other utilities around the country on an app designed to promote energy conservation by making it a social networking conversation – or a friendly competition – among friends.

The “social energy app” pulls in energy usage data from a Facebook member’s own utility bill. The member signs in through Facebook, and can chose to voluntarily share the data on the social network to see how they rank against their friends on an energy usage “leader board.”

The app can also be used to create groups that can compete against each other to see which one reduces their consumption most in a month.

The idea is to get more people talking about energy conservation and get motivated to take action, Facebook corporate sustainability leader Marcy Scott Lynn said during a media demo of the app.

“We’re using old fashioned word of mouth to ultimately reduce everyone’s energy footprint,” she said.

Facebook developed the app with OPower, an Arlington, Va., company that behind the graphical home energy reports that PG&E customers already receive, and the non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council.

Now, Article Three…

Facebook app promotes energy conservation with peer pressure

Energy Savings and Social Media

by Jennifer Van Grove,   www.venturebeat.com

If simple common sense can’t curb energy usage, perhaps a little peer pressure from Facebook friends will do the trick.

Facebook has joined forces with energy efficiency startup Opower and the National Resources Defense Council to release a social energy application that encourages people to track, and ultimately reduce, energy use in the home.

The simple application invites Facebook members to log in and automatically track monthly energy use by connecting the app to their utility account. The friendly, non-threatening conservation-themed app encourages competition, highlights rankings among friends and groups, provides national benchmarks, and offers energy-saving tips.

“People can connect their utility account directly to the app to track progress and share energy saving accomplishments with friends,” Facebook said in a memo on the news.

The social network estimates that it can reach 20 million households at launch, although not all utility providers (SDG&E, for one) are supported.

Facebook’s app partner, Opower, has been in the business of consumerizing energy use data since 2007. The Arlington, VA-based company has raised upwards of $65 million in venture funding, including a $50 million round from Accel and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

We appreciate the gesture, but we’re not yet sold on the idea of Facebook and gamification tactics making a sizable dent in energy use. We’re open to being proven wrong, of course. What say you, Dear Reader?

The app is scheduled to be available Tuesday morning at social.opower.com.