Homeowner Electric Bills Get High-Tech Help

For most home owners, about the only way to quickly control how much energy they consume is by cranking down the thermostat. That's certainly true my home.

That's about to change. Soon your home will be more connected and "smarter" than ever, thanks to two technologies under development. One comes from a group headed by Google, the other from Poco Labs.

While both efforts aim to give you more insight into your home's energy use, they take very different approaches.