By helping the participating utilities and their customers understand and control their energy usage and cost, ConnSMART will enable all of us to benefit from new smart grid-enabled opportunities to save money, use more environmentally-friendly sources of energy, and manage our electricity—all while further enhancing the already high level of reliability and service provided by the Connecticut's municipal utilities. Each participating municipal utility is developing a unique smart grid implementation plan that best fits the needs of its customers.

Customers in each service area will experience a different mix of benefits. Over the next decade, participating municipal utility customers can expect to see many of the following benefits provided by the ConnSMART program:

More information in your hands: See in “real time” how much energy you are using, when you use it, and how much it costs, on a website and (eventually) an in-home display.

Your choice to save: Lower your costs by deciding to reduce energy use at “peak” times, when energy is most expensive. If you wish, your utility can make this happen automatically.

Lowered utility costs: Smart grid helps your utility work more efficiently, thus reducing (or minimizing increases in) the “distribution” part of your bill. For example, meter readers won’t have to go out as often, since the new meters will report your usage electronically.

Improved service: Due to smart grid technology, your utility can address and resolve issues with your service more quickly and effectively, often before you even notice them -- everything from billing questions to restoring power after an outage.

Reduced greenhouse gases and carbon emissions via enhanced integration into the grid of environmentally friendly kinds of energy generation and storage (solar, wind, geothermal).

Reduced oil consumption and carbon footprint due to future support of “smart-grid enabled” electric vehicles and other green technologies.