On Wednesday, manufacturing giant GE announced a partnership with Tendril, a company that provides smart grid software and services. The agreement will see see GE work to incorporate monitoring and reporting capabilities into its consumer appliances and ensure that they communicate properly with Tendril’s software. Tendril will focus on ensuring that the data the devices provide is communicated back to utilities. The two companies will also cooperate in developing load management algorithms that can help utilities remotely adjust the appliance’s performance based on demand and available electric resources.

The promise of a smart grid depends on the degree of sophistication of the hardware and software involved. In its simpler form, a smart meter can provide consumers with a basic outline of their electricity use, which can help identify activities that draw the most power. More sophisticated versions involve having individual pieces of consumer hardware participate in a local network, allowing fine-grained analysis of power use.

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