The Legislature finds that smart grid and smart meter technologies have the potential to provide substantial benefits to consumers and the environment, including reduced energy costs, increased energy efficiency, and increased reliability of the electric grid. The Legislature recognizes, however, that the use of advanced metering technology may give electric utilities and consumers access to more detailed usage data than that collected by conventional electric utility services. The purpose of the Electric Usage Data Protection Act is to establish standards to govern the access to and use of usage data, as defined in Section 3 of this act by electric utilities, customers of electric utilities, and third parties.