In a 30-month research project geared specifically for the UK and Bulgaria, energy consultant Hildebrand installed small energy monitors at different homes in five European cities -Birmingham, Bristol, and Manchester in the U.K., and Plovdiv and Ivanovo in Bulgaria.

Using IBM's software, the homeowners view online information that displays their electricity use, figures out the cost, and compares it with usage by other people.

"Giving citizens more information and better control over their energy use will cut down on costs and consumption as well as reduce their overall impact on the environment," Guido Bartels, General Manager of Energy and Utilities at IBM, said in a statement.

"With this collaboration, we can demonstrate how smart and connected communities can be more energy conscious and, in turn, more sustainable."

Though the goal of the project is to help consumers make better decisions on how to manage their power needs, the study will also help researchers monitor the people themselves to measure their attitudes toward energy conservation.

This latest project is part of IBM's Smarter Planet program and follows the Smarter Building initiative to track and conserve energy use in buildings and factories.

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