Dive Brief:

• A new report from Navigant Research predicts 32 million smart thermostats could be installed worldwide by 2020, a phenomenal increase over the 1.4 million currently in use.
• The report says the current global market of $85.5 million for programmable communicating thermostats (PCTs) could be worth up to $1.4 billion by 2020.

Dive Insight:

Smart thermostats provide utilities with a way to tap into the engaged customer market by offering a value-added service that reduces consumer power demands while creating new revenue streams. The devices started gaining traction in recent years in tandem with smart meter rollouts as another way for utilities to curtail excessive demand during peak load events.