I got the power--no you got the power!

Alright, it's no secret around the SJVCEO offices that I love me some Carl and Eddy. I always insist on Carl and Eddy posters for our community events, I've included C&E in a quarterly report to my board, and I may have tweeted about these guys once or twice.

Really--I think they're great! What, you don't believe me?  How about now?

What if I told you I make the rest of team SJVCEO live over in Carl? (what can I say, I like my space)



Carl and Eddy were a stroke of genius; somewhere, someone very smart said, "I bet people would listen more if the message came from talking houses."  Well, perhaps it wasn't quite like that, but Carl and Eddy get the job done.  Market research on these two showed that their fans had an 85% recall rate on the information in the videos.  They're so effective that SCE received a Buildy Award for "Customer-Focused Innovation" for the series.  It turns out that I'm not the only one who's fallen hard for these two talking houses.

So, what is my favorite rap session with these guys?  Oh, I'm partial to "I got the power"

Of course, that shows a bit of nostalgia on my part because "I got the power" was my first Carl and Eddy video way back in 2010.  At the time I thought, "well guys, that's nice, but you're still living south of the Grapevine. Call me when you get to the Valley".  Good news: they're here!

Better yet, Southern California Edison (SCE) is here and they're bringing SmartConnect to the Valley.

I learned this when a news release from SCE crossed my desk last week announcing that SmartConnnect is coming to the San Joaquin Valley.  Here are the highlights, just in case you don't want to click through:

• Installations in the Valley are planned for October through December 2012
• Communities set for installation include: Armona, California Hot Springs, Camp Nelsone, Delano, Ducor, Earlimart, Goshen, Hanford, Ivanhoe, Lemon Cove, Lindsay, McFarland, Pixley, Porterville, Springville, Strathmore, Terra Bella, Three Rivers, Tipton, Tulare, Tule River Indian Reservation and Woodlake.  
• SmartConnect meters are digital, secure, two-way communicating devices
• Customers with SmartConnect will be able to access their daily energy usage through their SCE.com account.  
• SmartConnect isn't mandatory--there is an opt out option--it's just really, well, smart!  

In a statement, Ken Devore, director of SCE's Edison SmartConnect program said, "Smart meters will empower our customers to become better managers of their electricity usage through new tools, programs and services that will help them save energy and money, and help protect the environment." Whoa, whoa, whoa--hold the phone, Mr. Devore!  Customers managing their electricity? That is what we at the SJVCEO love to hear!  In fact, we live and breath by the adage, "you can't manage what you can't measure."  Intelligent metering, by design, will allow the average homeowner to acurately, and in real time see the measure of their energy use and with that information make informed choices about how they want to use their energy. Whether by savings for that extra day of AC when it hits 106 degrees, or deploying no-cost conservation tricks around the house to make sure the energy bill stays within budget.  Smart metering allows all of us to make smart choices, and it puts the power in our hands.  

My good friend Eddy says he's got the power, but I hate to break to you Eddy--with SmartConnect, we all have the power!