The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has published a report that outlines how most US utilities are not properly using their smart meter programs, arguing that this constitutes a waste of taxpayer funds – given the municipal-ownership of utilities being rather common in the US. If the report gains momentum, many utilities are going to start to feel the heat, which might be a boon for those in the smart grid sector looking to sell them software, services, or even entire platforms that can use this data. The US is something of an oddity when it comes to utilities, in that many are owned by the municipality and therefore enjoy a monopoly on the local market –…