A national survey commissioned by GE, a diversified infrastructure, finance and media company, finds that majority of Americans are willing to think differently about their use of energy, embrace innovation and seize control of their energy destiny.

According to the survey, 79 percent of Americans said they would adjust their energy consumption habits and behaviors in the short term to effect change long term.

Among the surveyed, 72 percent believe that how they generate and use energy today could actually harm the economic growth of the country. Sixty-three percent noted they would work with their power company to influence change in consumption habits.

The survey indicates that Americans will respond positively to 'smart' appliances that are empowered by 'smart' meters offering new pricing models, which will result in a fundamental shift in how energy is consumed.

Seventy percent of the participants agreed that they would prefer their power company invest in current infrastructure to make it more efficient rather than build new power-generating facilities and believe these improvements to the grid would lead to economic growth opportunities.

Majority of Americans (88 percent) said they would be willing to use a smart device such as a meter, thermostat or appliance if it would help to better manage their energy usage. At the same time 82 percent of those willing to use these devices believe smart meters and smart appliances are the future.

Some of the primary motivators for consumers' smart grid support are desire to save money, increased control over energy bill, desire to make a difference for children or grandchildren, helping reduce the number of power outages, environmental concerns and so on.

The survey also found that among those consumers that do not currently embrace smart grid technologies, 27 percent don't understand the benefits of smart meters or smart grids. Bob Gilligan, vice president of digital energy for GE Energy Services, says continued consumer-friendly education should be provided to address this gap in understanding.

Also, 10 percent is still hesitant to accept smart grid as the way forward. Many of them are primarily concerned about a rise in costs and potential privacy and security risks.

The survey was conducted by StrategyOne, an applied research consulting firm, in June 2010 through telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,000 U.S. consumers.

In April GE announced that the GE Field Force Automation, or FFA toolset that utilities rely on for optimizing field worker activities, has earned GE's "ecomagination" status for the environmental benefits the solution provides, TMCnet reported. FFA is a Web-based, efficiency-building solution that optimizes mobile workforce operations through automated dispatch, paperless information sharing and intelligent worker assignment.