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One of the common misconceptions about the “smart grid” is that advanced metering infrastructure is inherently “smart.” But the truth is that AMI only becomes “smart” when applications leverage the technological capabilities of this new infrastructure, like two-way communication, to create new solutions like next-generation energy-efficiency and demand response. Proprietary communication protocols and closed systems will make the development of such applications difficult, if not impossible. This is why standards like OpenADR have emerged and why smart meter companies like Silver Spring Networks and are building standards-based networks. Now residential energy management firm Tendril has joined the fray, not just signing on to the OpenADR bandwagon, but also opening up their application programming interface (API) to partners so that third-parties can interface with its software and devices. So far, partners include major meter vendors like Silver Spring Networks, Itron, Landis+Gyr, and in-home device companies like Energate and Onzo.

While today only Tendril’s partners have access, releasing an API like this highlights what the future of the “smart grid” could be. Think about Apple’s iPhone “App Store.” Since Apple published its API and released a software development kit for the iPhone, over 10,000 iPhone Apps have been developed. These applications run the gamut from those that track subway schedules to others that mimic the sound of flatulence - by opening up the iPhone platform, there are now applications that Apple, as creative as it is, would have never conceived of on its own. In the same manner, by releasing its API to partners, features and functions that Tendril never considered, or those that it envisioned but were beyond its capability, may now become a reality. As open-source software has shown, the more minds working on a problem, the more robust the end-result will be.

Now let’s take this a step further. Imagine a future where all “smart” meters utilize the same communication standards and protocols and where end-users, not utilities, own the meter data. Under such a paradigm, there would be numerous vendors offering a myriad of solutions and applications that would leverage this new infrastructure. Consumers and businesses could choose those that best meet their needs, and the competitive marketplace would lead to the emergence of better solutions than what could be developed by the meter makers themselves.

I don’t know about you, but that’s a future I could get excited about. Bring on the Smart Grid “App Store.”