Direct Energy, Houston, a retail provider of electricity, natural gas, and home services throughout North America, launched a partnership with SmartThings to bring what it calls “a smarter, safer, connected home” to energy customers in Texas.

Direct Energy will offer customers Smart Home Starter Kits from SmartThings that include a Hub and a number of sensors and controllable devices focused on energy management, basic home security and home automation, such as smart power outlets, motion sensors and open/close sensors. These smart devices communicate with each other inside the home and connect with the homeowners' smart devices through the SmartThings mobile app, allowing the homeowner to set context-sensitive, “if this, then that” home automation rules and stay connected with their home and family from anywhere, anytime, the company described.

“This partnership brings the latest and greatest in energy management and home automation technology literally to our customer's fingertips,” said Robbie Wright, vice president of Digital and Innovation, Direct Energy. “We want to empower our customers through our thought leadership and innovative technology. Smart Things is helping shape the Smart Home, and we are excited to offer our customers the convenience and control that this technology delivers.”

Starting today for a limited time, new and existing customers in Texas enrolling in any of the low, competitive, fixed-term energy plans from Direct Energy and Bounce Energy will receive a free SmartThings Starter Kit. More details and an illustrative video showing how SmartThings works are at www.directenergy.com/getsmartthings and www.bounceenergy.com/getsmartthings.

SmartThings is compatible with hundreds of smart devices from a variety of manufacturers, and customers can add many other popular smart devices like smart lighting, locks, smart switches, thermostats, video cameras, leak detectors, and garage door openers to create a fully connected home. There are no contracts or installation costs; customers will be able to follow simple setup instructions that can be completed in as little as 15 minutes to enjoy convenience and home control at their fingertips, according to the company.

SmartThings has raised $15.5 million in venture capital from Greylock Partners, Highland Capital Partners, First Round Capital, SV Angel, Lerer Ventures, Max Levchin, Start Fund by Yuri Milner, A-Grade, David Tisch, CrunchFund, and others. SmartThings is headquartered in Washington, D.C. with offices in San Francisco and Minneapolis.