Eighty-one percent of U.S. utility customers expect their utility provider to use higher levels of renewable energy such as wind, solar and geothermal biogas in the future to meet their energy needs, according to a new report from GE's Digital Energy business.
That is just one of many findings from GE's Grid Resiliency Survey, which was conducted by Harris Poll and measures the U.S. public's current perception of the power grid, experiences and future expectations. Other interesting findings include that 82% of respondents would like their utility to do more to encourage energy conservation and share ideas to improve energy efficiency in their homes; and 41% of Americans living east of the Mississippi River are more willing to pay an additional $10 per month to ensure the grid is more reliable, compared to 34% of those living west of the Mississippi.
‘Twenty-first-century consumers are more sophisticated and expect reliable power 24 hours a day to support their power-hungry lifestyles,’ says John McDonald, director of technical strategy and policy development at GE's Digital Energy business. ‘Moreover, when there is a power outage, consumers expect their utility to communicate effectively and provide real-time updates on power restoration progress. Leveraging big data, minimizing recovery times and optimizing renewable energy will be key for utilities to meet consumers' evolving needs.’
More results of the survey can be found here.
