In a bid to improve its operational efficiency, utility AEP Ohio has commissioned Powerley to help it deploy a demand-response enabling Smart-Home-as-a-Service platform – based on smart home devices and new grid technologies. The goal is to have some control over in-home energy consumption, to boost grid-stability and avoid having to fire up expensive generation capacity. AEP Ohio said that it will offer Powerley’s Energy Bridge home energy management hub to its residential customers with Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) – also known as smart meters. The utility will be using Powerley’s end-to-end hardware hub and software platform to encourage customers to take part in demand response events. The utility also hopes that platform will help to add value to its…