Southern Company to collaborate with Samsung SmartThings starting in Mississippi

Southern Company and Samsung SmartThings have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to collaborate on a number of innovative projects that explore the intersection of consumer energy management and smart-home automation.

This strategic relationship is designed to advance and unlock residential flexible load and grid benefits by providing customers with personalized, automated solutions. Among other goals, the collaboration is intended to demonstrate quantifiable reduction in energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

SmartThings is Samsung’s global connected living platform for smart homes, with users in more than 200 countries. The app allows users to control their connected devices in the home from a smart device and was certified by the EPA as the first commercial Smart Home Energy Management System (SHEMS).

Samsung is the market leader in refrigerators, televisions and display monitors in the United States, holding the largest market share. Some 71% of U.S. households currently own at least one Samsung device.

The engagement will encompass the following initiatives:

• Creation of an Innovation laboratory and test site where testing can take place for integrations and demand response simulations prior to customer implementation.
• Design and implementation of a custom Southern Company user experience on SmartThings to help recruit, enroll and engage users during a Mississippi Power energy efficiency battery pilot scheduled for the first quarter of 2024. Participating customers will be able to view their usage data in a SmartThings app.
• SmartThings will support Mississippi Power’s Smart Neighborhood project with customer education and engagement, data and analytics.

Southern Company and Samsung SmartThings will continue to explore ways in which the two entities can work together across the larger Southern Company footprint.

“We are excited to engage with Samsung SmartThings,” said Hank Adams, Southern Company’s senior vice president of customer solutions. “By combining our energy expertise with Samsung’s smart home technology, we aim to deliver personalized, automated solutions that enhance the lives of our customers while advancing energy efficiency.”

“Mississippi Power’s pipeline of innovative projects, including our Smart Neighborhood and demand response initiatives, are the perfect place to begin this new collaboration,” added Mississippi Power Marketing and Sales Director Giff Ormes. “This collaboration will allow Mississippi Power and Southern Company to better understand how new technologies can help our customers manage their energy usage.”

“Here at SmartThings, sustainability is at the core of everything we do,” commented Mark Tekippe, vice president of product and growth. “We could not be more thrilled about this collaboration with Southern Company, and we look forward to being able to engage, educate and empower customers to take control of their home energy usage, save money, reduce carbon emissions and support a cleaner, more efficient power grid.”