How much energy - and money - would you save in your home if you could see the cost of the electricity being used in real time?

Apparently, about 15 per cent.

As the market for green technology heats up, consumers across Canada will soon be introduced to so-called smart-meter technology and one Canadian firm, Blue Line Innovations, will reap some of the rewards.

In May, Blue Line signed an agreement with Newmarket Hydro in Ontario, through which the utility will offer home electricity monitors to residential customers at cost.

For $137.50 plus GST and provincial sales tax, homeowners can buy a PowerCost Monitor, which consists of two components - a sensor that is attached to the outside of the electricity meter (homeowners can install the meter themselves and it does not require access to the electrical panel) and a small display that can be placed anywhere in the house.

The sensor on the meter sends a wireless signal to the display, which shows the current and accumulated electricity consumption in dollars and cents, and in real-time feedback.

James McMillan, Blue Line's vice-president of sales and marketing, said the PowerCost Monitor "will pay for itself in a matter of months."

During a 2004-2005 pilot project, Blue Line provided PowerCost Monitors to 500 Hydro One customers in Ontario. That pilot, which was monitored "rigorously" by McMaster University, found that homeowners who used the monitors saved up to 15 per cent on their electric bills.

According to Blue Line, the savings in greenhouse-gas emissions would equal the shutting down of one coal-fired power plant or taking 1.2 million cars off the roads if every home in Canada had a PowerCost Monitor for one year.

Calling the PowerCost Monitor a "speedometer for the home," McMillan argued that it allows customers to make informed decisions on how to spend money on electricity.

"Armed with that information, they tend to make small behavioural changes that result in big savings," he said. "This could include only running the dryer on a full load instead of just one pair of jeans or hanging up the laundry to dry instead of using the dryer at all, or changing out incandescent lightbulbs for the energy-efficient compact fluorescents."

Blue Line cites a recent study by Hydro One that found that 92 per cent of customers who had ordered a PowerCost Monitor would recommend it to a friend - but not everyone loves the product.

In March, Rob Howatson, a B.C. homeowner, wrote in The Globe and Mail about his experience as part of a BC Hydro conservation study. He admitted "there was a spike of Al Gore enthusiasm in our household when we first fired up the PowerCost Monitor," but "we quickly learned that broom-closet lighting is not the best ambiance for every décor challenge," and their initial enthusiasm faded.

Howatson added that the real eco-fizzle came when the monitoring station could not establish a consistent link with the PowerCost Monitor. The device still works, he wrote, but "periodically the display goes blank and we have to give it a gentle nudge."

McMillan acknowledged that Blue Line has had "many pilot versions" of the PowerCost Monitor on the market, and that "years have been spent honing the technology and improving on the usability of the product."

The product's commercial launch came in July 2006, and Blue Line has worked closely with Hydro One, London Hydro, Newfoundland Power, and BC Hydro, as well as NStar, National Grid, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Progress Energy in the United States.

Based upon previous experience, McMillan estimated that anywhere from 30 to 50 per cent of residential customers in Newmarket will take advantage of the PowerCost Monitor program. The device is only available for houses, but McMillan said that "extending our product into high-density residential buildings is a natural extension that we will be exploring."

Blue Line Innovations is nearly five years old, with its corporate headquarters in St. John's, Nfld., and offices in Ottawa.

While the only product it offers is the PowerCost Monitor, Blue Line is also a full-service provider for utilities, including call centre and distribution centre logistics, technical support, marketing and awareness programs, campaign monitoring and evaluation. The company received the Association of Energy Service Professionals Award for Outstanding Energy Efficiency Technology Deployment in 2006.

According to McMillan, Blue Line has two major competitors: Centimeter in Australia and South Carolina's Energy Detective. Blue Line is the only Canadian developer and producer of such technology, said McMillan, adding: "What sets us apart is the fact that we have a fully commercialized product that can be installed by the homeowner with no need for a third-party installer and our focus is on customer delight."

Peter Hunt, vice-president of public affairs at Calgary-based Enmax, said his company is comparing competing bids to supply smart meters from "over a dozen" companies, and he was "not sure" if Blue Line Innovations is one of those firms.

Hunt said that energy conservation makes sense for energy utilities. Population growth is pushing up energy costs, he said, which means new generating stations and transmission lines must be built.

Also, it is in Enmax's best interest to build long-term relationships with customers, he said. That means helping homeowners save money and preventing power shortages from occurring.

Much like Calgary, Newmarket's demand for electricity is driven by population growth. Pam Riley, an energy conservation co-ordinator at Newmarket Hydro, said that the reasons for embracing smart meters is twofold - reducing greenhouse-gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, and to reduce the dangers of supply shortages. "Northern York Region is one of these affected areas and therefore requires that its consumers are conscious of their energy use and seek opportunities to conserve," she said.

While Hunt believes energy conservation is important, the next big step will be enabling homeowners to set up their own solar and wind-power generators and then selling surplus juice back to the energy grid. "Smart meters are the key to doing that," he said.

(Eli Schuster can be reached at schuster@businessedge.ca)