Companies that develop home energy management technologies and devices are beginning to see telephone companies as a major, largely-untapped market sector for their wares, according to a report from Greentech Media. Telcos such as AT&T and BT have looked at energy management as a potential future area of growth (though primarily in the business services market as far as we could tell), and it's certainly another application that could be provided to broadband-wired homes, as well as being an application that might give first-movers a leg up in the ongoing residential broadband competitive battle.

For more:
- Greentech Media has this report [1]

Related articles
AT&T and other telcos have looked at energy management [2]
iControl targeted telcos for home security/energy management [3]