Google gadget will track your home's electricity use

Adding yet another tentacle, Google is moving into the smart grid market. A new iGoogle gadget when coupled with a smart power meter, will tell you which appliances in your home are hogging electricity, and when, helping you save power and money. (A "gadget", in Google-speak, is an embedded piece of software that offers a real-time feed; in this instance from your power meter to iGoogle, the search giant's personalised home page service.)

Google – no slouch on the power consumption front itself, with some of its rugby field-size server farms consuming up to 100 megawatts of electricity – says there are now around 40 million smart power meters installed in homes and businesses worldwide, and anticipates 100 million within a couple of years.

Such meters are part of the emerging field of “smart grids”, helping consumers to closely monitor their power use, and making it easier to take advantage of off-peak rates.

A missing piece in the smart grid puzzle, says Google, is an easy way for people to digest the information pouring out of a smart meter. The company’s new Google PowerMeter aims to provide a real-time, user-friendly overview. At least in the Google-supplied screen shot above and demo video below, it looks useful.

However, Google PowerMeter won’t be released to the general public any time soon. The company is still in the initial stages of talking to potential hardware and power company partners – and is no doubt looking to today’s demo to help juice utilities’ interest (if you happen to run a power company, or control a government agency, you can sign up here).

In case you’re wondering how a search company wound up in the power business, Google explains in a statement:

Google’s mission is to "organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful," and we believe consumers have a right to detailed information about their home electricity use. We're tackling the challenge on several fronts, from policy advocacy to developing consumer tools, and even investing in smart grid companies.