Press Release | GBA Launches GB CMD Cert Program for Electricity, Natural Gas & Water Utilities

ATLANTA, Sept. 5, 2018 – The Green Button Alliance (GBA), which fosters the development, compliance, and adoption of the industry-standard Green Button energy and water data-access and -sharing protocol, today announced the launch of its Green Button Connect My Data (CMD) Certification Program for data custodians. Utilities providing customers access to their electricity, natural gas, or water data by utilizing the Green Button standard are now able to assure their programs are Green Button standards-compliant and meet goals for both customer privacy and secure data sharing.

"Utility-provided customer data-access and -sharing platforms are a revolutionary and crucial part of modernizing the utility-digital customer relationship and provide a foundation for delivering a host of new customer-engagement programs including behind-the-meter services," said Syed Mir, Vice President Corporate Services & CIO, London Hydro and Chairman, Green Button Alliance. "London Hydro's Green Button CMD Certification is for electricity, natural gas, and water data; and it assures us that we can enable our customers—large and small—with reliable, standards-based, data-driven solutions that will securely work together as we grow our service ecosystem."

Demand for Utility Customer Data

Easy access to standardized energy consumption and billing data is critical for commercial, industrial, and institutional building-energy managers; solar and real estate industries; the heating and cooling sector; and residential customers who are increasingly using the web, mobile applications, and IoT devices to understand and manage their energy usage. As smart meters continue to be installed around the world—and customer demand for access to their data increases—customers and application developers will look to utilities to provide Green Button Certified CMD solutions. Learn about additional powerful capabilities and features of the Green Button industry standard here (PDF).

"The availability of the Green Button Certified CMD program comes at a pivotal time for the industry as utilities look to provide viable, proven solutions to meet customer demands and regulatory requirements for data access and sharing," said Donald F. Coffin, Technical Manager, Green Button Alliance. "Utilities interested in providing customers with Green Button standards-based energy-and-water usage and billing data can now earn a certification that assures customers are provided the privacy and data security they seek while sharing data with third-party solutions."

Green Button Certification

A Green Button Alliance founding member, UL Verification Services (UL), is a GBA-authorized test laboratory and conducts the ANSI-audited Green Button Certified CMD process. Once a utility's solution has been tested and certified as compliant, through UL's Green Button testing process, the GBA, who administers the program and provides technical assistance to applicants if needed, issues the "Green Button Certified CMD" mark. A "Green Button Certified CMD" mark on a utility's website assures customers and application developers they can rely on the data they receive and empowers consumers with solutions that securely and seamlessly work together.

Utilities that have existing Green Button CMD implementations, or that are developing Green Button CMD offerings, can apply for certification here.

About Green Button Alliance 

The Green Button Alliance (GBA) fosters the development, compliance, and adoption of the global Green Button electricity-, natural gas-, and water-usage data-sharing standard. The standard for Green Button is published by the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) as the Energy Service Provider Interface (ESPI).

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