Nest partners with Texas-based energy utility to bring its thermostat into more homes

Nest, makers of a surprisingly beautiful home thermostat with Apple-like design qualities, has just partnered with Texas-based energy utility, Reliant, in an effort to expand into more homes. This is essential for Nest’s growth as a company, as tech savvy home owners likely already have this product on their radar, but a majority of people have yet to see its potential.

This utility deal works both was as well, as GigaOM notes, because it should help make Reliant more attractive against its competitors by offering such a premiere device. One again, although Nest is still a consumer-facing company, stopping the problem of bad/stupid/ugly thermostats at the source is easily one of the best things Nest can do for itself.

From Elizabeth Killinger, Reliant Senior Vice President, Residential and Operations at Reliant:

Cooling accounts for about 60 to 70% of the average home’s electricity bill and with the Texas summer heating up, this plan couldn’t come at a better time, While only about 10% of programmable thermostats are ever actually programmed, 99% of installed Nest Learning Thermostats are running a schedule that reflects the owners’ lives. We’re excited to be working with Nest to give customers a better way to control their electricity use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B9qCLs8txBo

For Texas-based readers, note that this thermostat is offered through the “Reliant Learn & Conserve Plan(SM),” which follows a 2 year fixed-rate schedule. For more, check out the official release here.