UK utility British Gas has unveiled the new design for the second generation of its £250 Hive smart home controller. With a new LED screen for the wall-mounted device, the electricity and gas supplier is proving the case for utilities to lead the charge into the smart-home-as-a-service (SHaaS) business, thanks to their existing consumer relationships and the rapid progress of smart home technology. Aside from reducing churn thanks to the bundled hardware, utilities stand to gain from the reduction in energy consumption that an automated and intelligent smart home can afford. Less energy consumption paired with the growth of smart grid technology should allow utilities to spend less capex on the largest grid infrastructure projects, and demand-response (where the utilities…