It's not so much a "Big Brother" scenario as much as it is the electric company pretending to provide helpful info to their customers. Think of it the same way as when your health insurance company sends you those lame newsletters with "helpful" advice on how to eat healthy and crap like that. (Surely I'm not the only one who gets junk mail from my insurance company or doctor's health group?) In this situation the electric company can claim that their invasive-ness is really to help guide you with suggestions on how to save power and lower your monthly bill, blah blah blah.
You have to understand that your electric company is a for-profit organization. Even if they claim to be a "public utility" they are still, most likely, a privately owned corporation. You can actually buy stock in utility companies. I own stock in mine and it's clear to me that it's a for-profit corporation. But being a "public utility" they have to pretend to care about the little guy so they will make a show of using the data they collect on you to offer "helpful suggestions". This is all intended to keep the government oversight board from looking too closely at them and possibly fining them for some infraction in the future. In short, it's a self-serving charade on the part of the electric company.
*And yes, they probably collect your personal data for other reasons too, like to sell that info to other companies so they can advertise to you also. Don't be surprised if you receive junk mail for power-saving appliances in the future.
**BTW, utility stocks aren't the greatest in the short run but they do continue to rise over the long run I have found. If you think about it everyone needs electricity and natural gas and water. We have a ton more electrical devices now compared to 30 years ago. It only makes sense that the demand for electricity is continually going up and so does the corresponding share value for utility stocks. I bought into the energy company years ago via a DRIP (dividend reinvestment plan). So every quarter the dividends my stock has earned are reinvested into purchasing more stock. It hasn't made me rich by any means but it's kind of nice to know I've got this small account that is slowly growing without me even thinking about it. Years down the line it will be nice to cash out and buy a new car with the money.
