Utility company Alliant Energy installed smart meters at 1,000 homes and businesses in the town of Dubuque, which is close to the borders of Wisconsin and Illinois and has a population of about 60,000.

The smart meters report energy consumption to the utility every 15 minutes, and at the end of each day the data is shipped off to an IBM data center 600 miles away in Lexington, Kentucky, for analysis.

Residents can then log into an online portal to see information such as how much energy they have used that month, how it compares to previous months and how it compares to other households with similar characteristics.

Millions of smart meters have been installed in the U.S. but they're being used mostly as a more convenient way for utilities to bill their customers, said Mark Bramfitt, an independent energy industry consultant.

It's hoped that smart meters will also help consumers reduce their energy use, but engagement levels have sometimes been low. Just recently, and both scrapped their online home-energy-management services, citing a lack of adoption.