HOUSTON — Direct Energy, one of the largest retail providers of electricity, natural gas, and home services in North America, has launched a partnership with SmartThings to bring the smart home to energy customers in Texas.

Direct Energy will offer customers Smart Home Starter Kits from SmartThings that include a hub and a number of sensors and controllable devices focused on energy management, basic home security, and home automation, such as smart power outlets, motion sensors, and open/close sensors. These smart devices communicate with each other inside the home and connect with the homeowners’ smart devices through the SmartThings mobile app, allowing the homeowner to set context-sensitive, “if this, then that” home automation rules and stay connected with their home and family from anywhere, anytime.

“This partnership brings the latest and greatest in energy management and home automation technology literally to our customer’s fingertips,” said Robbie Wright, vice president of digital and innovation, Direct Energy. “We want to empower our customers through our thought leadership and innovative technology. SmartThings is helping shape the smart home, and we are excited to offer our customers the convenience and control that this technology delivers.”

For a limited time, new and existing customers in Texas enrolling in any of the competitive, fixed-term energy plans from Direct Energy and Bounce Energy will receive a free SmartThings Smart Home Starter Kit. Details and a video showing how SmartThings works can be found at www.directenergy.com/getsmartthings and www.bounceenergy.com/getsmartthings.

SmartThings is compatible with hundreds of smart devices from a variety of manufacturers, and customers can add such devices as smart thermostats, lighting, locks, smart switches, video cameras, leak detectors, and garage door openers to create a fully connected home.

For more information about SmartThings, visit www.smartthings.com.

For more information about Direct Energy, visit www.directenergy.com.

Publication date: 9/1/2014

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