Leadership
Rick Boucher
Honorary Chairman
Bruce P. Mehlman
Co-Chairman
Jamal Simmons
Co-Chairman
Tracey Sawicki
Executive Director
The Internet Innovation Alliance is a broad-based coalition of business and non-profit organizations that aim to ensure every American, regardless of race, income or geography, has access to the critical tool that is broadband Internet. The IIA seeks to promote public policies that support equal opportunity for universal broadband availability and adoption so that everyone, everywhere can seize the benefits of the Internet - from education to health care, employment to community building, civic engagement and beyond.
Here you'll find convenient research items culled from the best broadband data sources. If you need to find bite-sized talking points on a tight deadline, you're in the right place. We've already done the hard part for you!
Smart Grid Reduces Monthly Utility Bills
Low income families spend 17 percent of their monthly expenses on utility bills. Smart grid technology tracking energy use can reduce their consumption by 5 to 15 percent, leading to a reduction in utility costs.
Smart Grid Saves U.S. Economy $49 Billion Annually
As reported by the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, the smart grid aside from its environmental benefits can save the U.S. Economy $49 billion per year through enhanced efficiencies across the electrical system.
Smart Grid Technology Reduces Energy Consumption
The “smart grid” distribution system facilitates consumer and utility company communication and integrates renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar energy to the benefit of the consumer. This system promotes responsible use of energy to create a cleaner environment.
When consumers have access to real time information such as smart thermostats at home, critical peak demand fell by 27% to 44%.
Watching a live concert or a sports event will consume close to 300 megabytes an hour.
An hour of browsing the Web on a mobile phone consumes roughly 40 megabytes of data.
Some departments, like the Defense Department, have large amounts of spectrum but only use it 1 percent of the time.
Wireless broadband also has been estimated to generate productivity gains—cost reductions for a given level of production—of $28 billion in 2005.
According to research company IDC Energy Insights, North American utilities are expected to spend $10.75 billion on computer hardware, software and services related to the smart grid this year, up from $7.56 billion in 2008.
Noah Horowitz, at the Natural Resources Defense Council, calculated that the nation’s gaming consoles,
like the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the Sony PlayStation 3, now use about the same amount of electricity each year as San Diego, the ninth-largest city in the country.