NYC Pedal Powered Ball Drop

Tonight when we're dancing and cheering in the new year with eyes glued to New York City's famous Time Square ball drop (an anticlimactic hour early here in the Midwest..) we'll have to thank the many people who made that celebratory glow possible. For the past month, people were invited to take a turn on a Duracell Power Rover and charge batteries through pedal power. Come the countdown to a new decade, the numbers lighting up 2010 will all come from human power.

So exciting!

Learn more from Duracell here.

Top 5 Energy Display Devices Coming to CES 2010

The Consumer Electronics Show is on the horizon (Jan 7-10, 2010) and will feature some new in home displays and wired appliances that will usher in a new era of home networking. Luckily for you faithful readers, the PSP blog will be on hand to cover all the exciting developments.

Here is list (in no particular order) of the most anticipated exhibitions:

Tendril:
As a leader in home energy management, Tendril will be showing the Tendril Tree. It's an entire "ecosystem" of products that offer a variety of automated energy efficiency services (Demand Response, Energy Efficiency and pricing). The products are consumer-centric, but are designed to seamlessly work with utilities over an open and standards-based platform.

Whirpool Corporation:
The appliance manufacturer has been very outspoken over the past year in its support of smart grid initiatives. It's vision of a connected grid comes with a new era of "smart" appliances that will help consumers take advantage of new rates (like Power Smart Pricing) that will automate energy efficiency and cost saving modes based on the current price of electricity.

Control4:
This is an interesting addition to the field because Control4 is more about lighting, audio, and security controls from a central management display. It's only because of consumer demand that they are adding energy management functionality. The amount that Control4 dedicates to it will provide some interesting insight as to how hard this demand is pushing.

Embertec:
As a energy management startup, Embertec is receiving a lot of positive press for its innovative line of computer chips that automatically reduce energy waste in your appliances. The chips are designed to learn and adapt the way an appliance consumes power while in standby mode. This allows any appliance to quickly reduce its consumption of vampire power.

4Home, Inc:
This company has received innovation awards from CES and other trade shows for the past few years. They provide a portal to manage and connect devices in the home. With an eye towards energy savings, 4Home has developed a series of tools that will be on display.

With a competitive and crowded field, the need for continual improvement will determine which company will come out ahead. This year's Consumer Electronics Show will provide a great snapshot to compare their various advancement. As the show nears there will be more to come...

Energy Efficient Traffic Lights Can't Melt Snow

Cold weather states are reporting that their LED traffic lights cannot melt snow and are becoming obstructed. They have been indicated as the reason for traffic accidents, however traffic experts claim that most drivers end up treating them as stop signs. It turns out that the energy efficient LED bulbs are not keeping up with their inefficient incandescent ancestors which gave off waste heat.

The new traffic lights are said to be 90% more efficient and last significantly longer than incandescent.

Wisconsin, which has put LED bulbs at hundreds of intersections, saves about $750,000 per year in energy costs, said Dave Vieth of the state Transportation Department. LEDs installed seven years ago are still burning, while most incandescent bulbs have to be replaced every 12 to 18 months, he said.

The snow won't obstruct a traffic light in all winter storms. The wind and snowfall has to be just right, but in those cases the current solution is to manually remove it. States and traffic authorities are experimenting with weather shields and other tech fixes.

To learn more about it check out the AP Story.

12/13 Energy & Environment Links

Control the Climate at Your Desk, Save Energy

Ever wish you could micromanage the heating and cooling of your workplace down to the area around your desk? Turns out, not only would it make you more comfortable, but it would also save energy.

Millions of homes to get energy efficiency displays

Driven by consumer interest in energy and utility smart-grid programs, home energy information displays are poised to enter people's kitchens and living rooms in large numbers over the next few years, Pike Research forecast in a report on Thursday.

NYC Passes Landmark Greener Greater Buildings Plan!

Just last night, the New York City Council voted overwhelmingly to pass the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan – a package of bills aiming to reduce New York City’s carbon emissions by almost 5%, create more than 17,000 jobs, and save New Yorkers $700 million dollars a year in energy costs (via Campaign for New York’s Future).

Batteries to Become Important Part of the Grid

The electric grid is a complex machine that has been developed since its inception to become more and more reliable. One way utilities have been able to uphold this standard is by getting energy from power plants that churn out a consistent and predictable level of electricity. However, emerging renewable energy technologies do not. Sometimes the wind blows, sometimes the sun shines.

Utility sized battery storage is becoming an increasingly sought after piece to America's energy puzzle. Large scale grid storage would allow utilities to "smooth" energy fluctuations. The poles and wires of the grid can neither have too much electricity or too little. The batteries would allow an opportunity for grid operator to store excess energy or use the stored power to cover any spikes in demand.

The question going forward is not if, but how it is going to look. Two options have begun to emerge with pilot projects testing their respective feasibility. One option is to build a large scale battery (generally made from a lot of smaller batteries) like A123's 8 MW battery. The other is a distributed network of batteries that could cover a single neighborhood which would create a much more nimble and faster acting more customized problem averting system.

Utilities in Illinois purchase their electricity on a real-time market similar to what you'll see for Power Smart Pricing customers. Just like our program, one way to lower your costs for electricity is to take advantage of lower priced hours. Putting batteries onto the grid would create a cost saving opportunity to recharge a battery at night when prices are the lowest, then that stored energy could underbid any of the electric generation that is occurring during a demand peak.

To learn more A123's massive battery, click here.
To learn more about the distributed battery model click here.

In Home Display Review from Engadget

The writers over at Engadget spent some time with three energy consumption monitoring devices. They reviewed and compared Google's PowerMeter online gadget, the TED 5000, and the kit from AlertMe Energy. Overall, it's great to see advancement from start-up companies emerging across genres.

They came to some conclusions about everything from installation to the device's ultimate practicality. Check it out. It's an interesting perspective from people who know more about gadgets than they do about the smart grid.

The Engadget review can be found here.

12/5 Energy & Environment Links

Lockheed Expands Its Smart Grid Wings

Lockheed Martin, which has been expanding into smart grid and alternative energy for the past year, said today that it will work with a series of utilities – including PPL Electric Utilities, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative and Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative – on implementing security solutions for the grid.

Solar Plant in Space Gets Go-Ahead

California regulators on Thursday went where no regulators have gone before — approving a utility contract for the nation’s first space-based solar power plant.

SmartSynch Launches Universal Smart Grid Router

Is it “the Rosetta Stone of the smart grid?” Well, that’s a tall order, but smart grid network company SmartSynch says it’s launching a “universal” router for the smart grid, dubbed GridRouter, that can connect various networks, products and languages to help create an open ecosystem for the next-generation version of the digital power grid. The Internet Protocol-based GridRouter can act as a bridge between proprietary smart grid devices from companies, says SmartSynch.

How much is your home costing you?

So you get the bill at the end of the month, you look at, and it pretty much means nothing past "when and how much." The consumer centric information coming with smart grid advances is just that... coming. Even then it will require some more digging if you are truly interested to see just how the bill stacks up. An analogy that has often been made has compared electricity billing to going to the grocery store, picking out all your items, and then getting a total at the end of the month without knowing what each item cost you.

Well, consumer demand is changing rapidly. People are more and more interested in just how their money is getting spent. This demand is pushing appliance manufacturers, utilities, and the media to pay attention and innovate. A recent story in the Chicago Tribune by Cara Davis directly addresses this need. It's simple. It's to the point, and it really makes you wonder how this information has been so hidden for so long.

The article is titled "How much is your home costing you?" with the simplest of pictures featuring a kitchen with common appliances and their costs. It makes you think just long enough to look at your refrigerator a little differently the next time you open the door for 10 minutes figuring out what's for dinner.

Reduction in energy consumption will come from folks doing and spending the money they want on the things they want to do and buy with additional consumer demand and education on their lifetime costs. Looking at dryers, dishwashers, refrigerators and all things being equal, most people will buy the one that costs less to plug in. The speed of this change is a function of the demand which is all dependent on how much people know. Making these costs more transparent is the key to lowering the energy demand, but don't worry it won't spoil your Chinese food leftovers.


How much is your home costing you? (the print version contained the image above)

What if we all had RTP?

As a recipient of ARRA smart grid funds, Burbank Water and Power in California is set to automatically switch some of its largest residential customers to time-of-use rates. In all, BWP is installing 77,000 smart meters provided by Trilliant, a leading smart grid start up company. Households getting the new meters whose energy usage is greater than 250 kilowatts a month will be placed on time-of-use rates.

It will be essential for the program administrators to accurately educate their new crop of participants on how to take advantage of the potential benefits as well as limit any ideas that they are guaranteed. Initially, fear of the unknown will be a difficult hurdle to cross. However acceptance will come as soon as savings are understood and realized. This takes work from both engaged and educated participants to administrators who must be determined to figure out just how to engage and educate.

This initiative begs to ask the wider question, what if the rest of the country was automatically switched to real-time pricing?

Overall, it would be a great. One thing that Power Smart Pricing has shown is that participants with all types of housing size, hvac equipment, and usage have enjoyed savings. Some households would be better off than others, and surely there would be people who end up spending more, but in general America's bills would go down. The price curve would flatten and be less volatile as there would be more conservation during higher prices and more usage during lower priced hours.

Appliances would see a new era of innovation. Consumers would demand products that could react and shift to changing price demands. Products like the commercial-centric Ice Bear from Ice Energy that cools ice over night during cheaper evening prices to then use as an alternative to the expensive compressor during the peak afternoon periods would be more refined and aimed at homeowners.

This change would bring energy consumption closer to energy costs. The electricity market would be a vastly different stage. Again, we must commend our Power Smart Pricing participants as catalysts for more and more experimentation and confidence in the area of real-time pricing. Much of the consumer benefit of the expanded information with the smart grid depends on this pricing choice. The Burbank project will be closely watched.

11/21 Energy & Environment Links

Lesson Learned from the PG&E Smart Meter Suit: It’s a Communication Problem

We’ve yet to delve too deeply into all of the fisticuffs surrounding the suit filed by a Bakersfield, Calif. resident against utility PG&E for a smart meter that he says tripled his electricity bill.

Will consumers plug into home energy displays?

Dozens of home energy monitors are coming to market, but nobody knows whether only hybrid Prius owners will use them.

Wearable Technology Power Your Music Player With Your Running Pants

Talk about a dance, dance revolution: The Dancepants Kinetic Music Player, a shortlisted entry in Designboom’s Green Life competition, makes you work for tunes.

Introducing the $23 Billion for "Cash for Caulkers"

It appears that the success of "Cash for Clunkers" created enough buzz for a spin off. (However, this all  should be credited to the catchy Cash4Gold.com people.) Well either way, it is time for those programs to move aside for our personal favorite, "Cash for Caulkers."

The general goal of the program would be to pay homeowners to make energy efficient improvements on their homes. The potential value of such a program would be great because as we all know that cost effective home improvements bear savings month to month. The details need to be worked out, but this idea has achieved such high endorsements as former President Bill Clinton, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and John Doerr, an influential venture capitalist in Silicon Valley.

Here is the general breakdown as of the proposed program (via The New York Times):

• The official name of the program would be Homestar, playing off the name Energy Star, a government program that promotes energy-efficient appliances.
  

• It would cost $23 billion over two years. Of that, $6 billion would go to incentives to people who did at least two significant weatherization projects — such as air sealing, insulation, new light bulbs and new appliances. Homestar would have a list of 10 such projects. Households that did at least two would be eligible for up to $2,000. Households that did four would be eligible for up to $3,500. The government money could not pay for more than half of any project.

• Another $12 billion would be set aside for households that undertook a weatherization project that reduced energy consumption by at least 20 percent. A 20 percent reduction would bring a $4,000 subsidy. Each additional 5 percent reduction would bring another $1,500. Again, government money could not pay for more than half of any project.

• Some portion of weatherization projects would be audited to ensure they had done what they were supposed to. These audits would be paid for with $2 billion for program administration.

• The remaining $3 billion for the program would pay for incentives to retailers, like Home Depot and Lowe’s, and contractors. “What you want to be able to do,” Mr. Doerr said, “is walk into Sears or Home Depot and see a great big Homestar logo and a Homestar sales representative."

Even more from the New York Times (including an interactive graphic).
More from Earth2Tech.

11/15 Energy & Environment Links

Streetlights of the Future to be Powered by Trash

It's an idea that just seems to make a certain amount of sense: cities need streetlights, and cities need places for people to throw away their trash. Streetlights, which must stay on all night (unless they're these nifty sensor controlled ones), are a pretty sizable energy drain. But what would happen if all those people could toss their garbage into bins attached to a new kind of streetlight that could use it as fuel? And that's what we have here today. Introducing: the trash-powered street lamp.

Setting Sail Into Space, Propelled by Sunshine

About a year from now, if all goes well, a box about the size of a loaf of bread will pop out of a rocket some 500 miles above the Earth. There in the vacuum it will unfurl four triangular sails as shiny as moonlight and only barely more substantial. Then it will slowly rise on a sunbeam and move across the stars.

Microsoft Hohm: First Seattle City Light, Now Xcel Energy

Microsoft's Hohm home energy platform will soon be able to deliver monthly energy use data for all of Xcel Energy's 3.4 million customers across eight states, all without smart meters. The two companies plan to announce the news on Friday at an event at Microsoft's campus in Fargo, N.D., a Microsoft spokesperson said Thursday.

GE Introduces First "Smart Appliance"

The Smart Grid is coming! The Smart Grid is coming! Soon to follow are smart appliances. You can now (as in right now -however its not available in IL yet) buy the new Energy Star rated GE Hybrid Water Heater.

To create the next generation of water heaters, GE rethought every aspect of this appliance from the ground up. The result is a innovative new product that can reduce water heater operating cost up to 62% and save $320 per year.* That adds up to significant savings, and you won't have to give up a single drop of hot water.

The water heater is an excellent place to start. It is the biggest energy sucking appliance after your heating and cooling system. What makes this water heater smart is its ability to communicate to an outside system that can control what mode the water heater is in. During periods of high prices, the water heater can theoretically be shifted remotely by the utility the most energy efficient settings. This would be a similar program to an air conditioning cycling program.

An article from the New York Time's Green Inc. blog, relays that it is unfortunate that most consumers would not be able to see this added benefit.

There is no monetary incentive to program the water heater to go into energy-saving mode at 4 p.m., in other words — so the “smartness” has no immediate purpose.

Again as Power Smart Pricing customers, you all are on the front line to take advantage of the newest innovations in the energy cost savings world. It's so new that this feature is barely ever mentioned on GE's web page dedicated to the water heater. The real goal would be for the water heater to automatically adjust its settings based on how the consumer wants it to react to certain price points. For the time being, smart appliances and meters will be developed with the utility in mind.

Dynamic pricing programs like Power Smart Pricing are too few and far between for developers to aim their products at the consumer. Fortunately you all have proven that real-time pricing programs work for a wide variety of households and various levels of access to latest technologies.Your successes are paving the way towards wider acceptance of this pricing method and slowly but surely the products will change and advance with you in mind. Savings will follow.

For more from Green Inc on the smart appliance, click here.
To learn more (including multiple videos) about GE's Hybrid Electric Water Heater, click here.

PSP in the Quincy News (updated w/ video)

The article accompanying the video (yet to be posted online Update: Now with video!) features Power Smart Pricing participant David Edwards who has been a happy customer for the past 16 months. Thanks for the great coverage!

Check it out here.

More Winter Saving (online version)..

There is never a limit on savings... well maybe your total bill. Over CNet's GreenTech blog they have compiled a great guide to using the online tools that are available to everyone to get some personalized energy saving advice. In most of these cases, the software will ask you to profile your home to specify some places to target for energy and money savings.

Unfortunately, Power Smart Pricing customers won't be given time specific advice to help manage some of the higher winter prices. (Keep in mind that prices are generally lower than the flat 24 hours a day, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a pattern featuring higher priced times.)

To check out their guide to energy saving webware (their word, not mine) click here.

Home Energy Saving is Relaxing, Stylish and Tasty

Sealing air leaks in windows, door and electric outlets are a common solution. So is adding insulation and raising your blinds in the middle of the day to allow for passive solar heating. But ultimately, saving energy and money is something that we do everyday without even noticing. It comes in all forms, and it has all kinds of benefits. For Power Smart Pricing customers, combining your schedule and energy saving techniques is your best choice to increase savings and lower your bills.

For example, if you are an avid runner you could run in the evening to avoid the high electricity prices between 6-8 during cooler months (even better if you have electric heat...). Maybe running isn't your thing. Do you have a dog? Put on some layers and go for a walk. Who knew that energy saving could be so relaxing?

There are so many ways to conserve energy that most of the time you don't even have to think about it. Like that ever so desirable Snuggie, one impulse buy off QVC and you got yourself some energy savings. That Snuggie might even pay for itself... if it weren't for the shipping and handling. Who knew such a "smart" purchase could look so "stylish?"

It's getting cold, and now we get to battle everyday to stay warm. How about some tea? Coffee? Warm apple cider? Hot chocolate (with marshmallows of course)? Not sure if there is a better excuse to enjoy a warm drink than energy savings... well maybe that's just me.

Energy saving isn't all that hard. The key is finding those things that you enjoy to do and actually do them. If you believe me, plan a time to run this week and come home to a Snuggie and some hot chocolate. I bet you would let your thermostat drop without even checking it. Who knew energy saving could be so relaxing, stylish, and tasty all at the same time?

11/1 Energy & Environment Links

A place known for mustard shows fine taste for conservation

The Elithis Tower, its builder says, is an office building like no other, an oval-shaped showcase for how to help save the planet on a reasonable budget.

Very Promising! Zinc-Air Battery Could Hold 300% More Energy Than Lithium-Ion

Not quite as impressive on paper as the lithium-air battery we wrote about (which claimed 10x more energy storage than regular lithium-ion), but it might turn out to be easier to take out of the lab and bring to market. ReVolt Technology, a company based in Staefa, Switzerland, claims that its Zinc-air battery can "store three times the energy of lithium ion batteries, by volume, while costing only half as much."

Microgrids: $2.1B Market by 2015

The idea behind microgrids – islands of renewable power generation, energy storage, building control systems, and a localized electricity distribution grid that can manage it all, whether connected to the grid at large or not.

Weighing in on Smart Grid Stimulus

CNT Energy's Director of Policy and Evaluation, Anthony Star, wrote up a great piece for GE's smart grid blog on how the new funds have made "getting dynamic pricing right... more important now than ever."

There are several reasons that I am nervous about this large increase in the availability of dynamic pricing. One of our key findings has been that it is essential to think about dynamic pricing from the consumer’s point of view.

The article goes on to describe how our organization feels an effective dynamic pricing program should be run. It took us a long time and a lot of effort to figure out the best methods. The smart grid funds mark a time when a lot of different utilities across the country will be introducing dynamic pricing to their customers. If it is done right, then a lot of people (just like our Power Smart Pricing customers) will benefit from finding a new way to think about their electricity use. If not, preconceptions and apprehension about something new and different can bring the opposite effect.

Read Anthony's GE post "Why Getting Dynamic Pricing Right is More Important Than Ever."

DOE Smart Grid Funding is Announced

This morning the Department of Energy announced the recipients of the $3.4 Billion allocated for 100 smart grid projects through the ARRA. Overall the funding will lead to the installation of 18 million smart meters, 1 million in-home energy management displays, 170,000 smart thermostats, as well as advanced transformers and load management devices.

While this is a major day for the smart grid on a national scale, it is unfortunate that neither of the major Illinois utilities were among those chosen to receive funds. The competition was incredibly fierce. Of the 400 applicants only 100 projects will see their projects funded through the grant.

Alongside the $3.4 billion set aside by the federal government, $4.7 billion in private funds will contribute to a total of $8.1 billion. This is quite an investment for an emerging field. Smart grid projects are still new and today is a day that will surely mark its true arrival.

Many of the projects include a dynamic pricing option where customers will pay for electricity on a rate that varies across each day and provides incentives to manage peak electric demand. Some projects even include a real-time pricing model like Power Smart Pricing where that rate will be based on the wholesale electricity market prices.

Here in Illinois we have seven years of experience of how to get the consumers, environmentalists, citizen watchdog groups, utilities, and governments all on board with dynamic pricing. This was not achieved by a chanced interaction between a group of like minded people. All parties had their input, and thus a mutually agreed upon consumer-centric approach has been successful. Nationwide roll outs of these programs need to be handled with care, and they need to focus on making it easy for the consumer.

Click on the map to open a pdf.

For more details, you can see lists of the smart grid projects by category (pdf), by state (pdf).

10/24 Energy & Environment Links

Debate Follows Bills to Remove Clotheslines Bans

As much a cultural clash as a political and economic one, the issue is causing tensions as homeowners, landlords and property managers have traded nasty letters and threats of legal action. 

U.S. Green Building Retrofit Market to Hit $15B by 2014: Report

Just days after the White House outlined its strategy for bolstering the home energy retrofit market, a new report from research and publishing firm McGraw-Hill Construction predicts the market for nonresidential green building retrofits is set to soar and represents a better opportunity for designers and builders than new construction.

Financial Innovation We Can Believe In?

It's fairly well-established that people could save money over the long run by making their homes more energy-efficient—better insulation, say—or even, in some cases, putting solar panels on their roofs to generate their own electricity. But many of these upgrades never happen, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the incentives are misaligned, if, say, the landlord owns the building but the tenant pays electricity and heating costs. And sometimes homeowners are dissuaded by the high upfront capital costs.

Solar Gets a Hand from Auto Manufacturers

An interesting story out of the New York Times Environment and Energy blog called Green, Inc discusses the great fit between the expanding solar industry and the struggling auto industry. As the solar industry is looking to expand their manufacturing capabilities with the rise of consumer and industrial demand, the auto industries well documented difficulties through the recession give access to an eager and well trained manufacturing workforce.

On Tuesday solar start-up, Skyline Solar announced that Cosma International will produce the metal components of their solar panels. Cosma's other clients include: GM, Ford, Honda, and Toyota. This comes after a similar announcement that Clairvoyant Energy and Xtreme Power Inc. are converting an idled Ford plant in Michigan to produce renewable energy components.

Clearly the solar industry has a long way to go to fill the gap in lost manufacturing, but its a heartwarming story to see the ingenuity and ability of a trained workforce in action. Car manufacturers will bring the expertise of handling a large supply and production efficiencies to lower costs. The car industry's misfortune presents quite an opportunity for the younger solar industry, and this trend should only continue to the benefit off all involved.

For more go to the Green Inc article.

White House Unveils "Recovery Through Retrofit"

The goal of the Recovery Through Retrofit plan is to expand home energy retrofit programs and energy efficiency. The report sites the barriers that have prevented the field from expanding and reaching more of the 130 million homes in the United State that could use a boost in efficiency. The key to the new initiative is to overcome these barriers to help homeowners make cost effective investments in their homes.

A common reason many people do not make the investments is the initial cost. One proposed solution is to take the cost of the home energy improvements and incorporate them into property taxes each month. Turning the payments into a monthly obligation would allow for a scenario where the monthly energy cost savings would be offset the change in property taxes.

Additionally, the report covers a collaboration between the Department of Labor, the Department of Energy, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency to establish national workforce certifications and training standards. The goal would be to expand the home energy retrofit workforce and to build a foundation of strong consumer confidence.

This is great step towards expanding the cost effective solutions that can help alleviate the strain that energy bills place on so many families. The real challenge will be catalyzing consumer action in making a smart investment in their home. The proposed changes should initiate job creation in a field that needs a rapid expansion in both quality assurance and opportunity to homeowners.

To learn more read the report and executive summary here.

Here is a link to additional commentary from The New York Times.

Does the Smart Grid Need "Smart" Consumers?

As we get to watch the initial development and deployment of the smart grid, many people are trying to predict what it will ultimately look like. There are many eager stakeholders surrounding the issue from all sides. Entrepreneurs are looking for their niche, environmentalists are looking to reduce carbon emissions, and consumers are looking to make life a little cheaper to navigate.

While there is still much uncertainty, pilot projects and studies are setting some guidelines. Researchers have found that one of the keys to energy and cost savings comes from giving residential utility customers access to a dynamic pricing plan (real-time market based pricing, hourly day-ahead pricing, or time-of-use rates).  However within all the possibility of new economic development and efficiency, there are skeptics fearing that investment into a smart grid might not bear its potential due to consumers who would not be able to respond to the new dynamics. Power Smart Pricing customers are pivotal pioneers in proving that it does not take sophisticated technologies or a certain passion to achieve the milestones a complete smart grid offers.

We have used the Ambient Price Light and now twitter to get our customers price information, and we are actively seeking out new opportunities. Data from past summers has shown that energy consumption has been diverted away from peak times and lessens the need for electricity generation to come from the least efficient and dirtiest sources reserved for critical power peaks. Power Smart Pricing customers are now saving 17% since the beginning of the program in 2007 compared to what they would have paid had they stayed on the standard flat rate.

Power Smart Pricing customers have all made the decision on their own that this type of program is a better option for their household. They have used their own factors to weigh its benefits, but in the end they are just ordinary people doing as they always do. Our customers deserve all the credit, and they are shaping the expansion of the smart grid whether they know it or not.

Check out this interesting discussion on the topic of "Smart Consumers."

Team Illinois in 2nd Place at DOE Solar Decathlon

With two days left of the Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC, Team Illinois is currently in second place behind Team California. As of this post, Team Germany narrowly sits behind them with just a couple categories remaining to be scored.

The Solar Decathlon brings teams from all over the world to the National Mall in Washington, DC to literally build a home on the Mall. The houses are scored in 10 contests: Architecture, Market Viability, Engineering, Lighting Design, Communications, Comfort Zone, Hot Water, Appliances, Home Entertainment and Net Metering.

Team Illinois is made up of students from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. The Gable House is constructed using wood from a 100 year old barn that's outfitted with highly efficient solar panels. The combination of design and energy generation allows the house to generate 4 times as much energy as it consumes.

Take a tour of the home through its construction in the video below.

Check back to the DOE Solar Decathlon website for tons of media and up to the minute scoring.

Also check out UIUC's Gable Home page for more information on their house.

Consumer Electronics Rising Fast

As Massachusetts is considering to become the second state (after California) to incorporate energy efficiency stipulations for televisions and other electronic devices like DVD players, it reveals an interesting pattern in the average American's energy consumption. Consumer electronics are becoming more and more prevalent throughout our homes and now represents 15% of our household energy usage. According to the International Energy Agency this number is expected to triple over the next couple decades.

There are not just more gadgets, but they are getting bigger and more sophisticated.  This is the same path that many of our appliances have taken. Refrigerators used to be smaller while still using more electricity. A New York Times article from a couple weeks ago has an excellent chart showing the change in efficiency in our appliances since 1990. Advancements in energy efficiency has allowed us to store more cake... and it eat it too!

In 1990, refrigerator efficiency standards went into effect in the United States. Today, new refrigerators are fancier than ever, but their power consumption has been slashed by about 45 percent since the standards took effect. Likewise, thanks in part to standards, the average power consumption of a new washer is nearly 70 percent lower than a new unit in 1990.

Energy efficiency has long been seen as the most cost effective way to lower our energy costs. It also provides a way for us to keep doing the things we want without having to pay more for them. If you want to watch ultra-sharp big screen TV all day that's your choice. Would it bother anyone if it cost less?

The aforementioned New York Times article.

Google PowerMeter Annouces Partnership with TED

Google's online energy management software, PowerMeter, will now be compatible with The Energy Detective series of display devices to watch your real-time energy usage. The move shows that Google is continuing to expand their software in both platform availability and ability. It also gives TED devices a much needed boost in relevance.

Unfortunately the TED devices cannot be set up to display the price of a real-time pricing program (or one that uses day-ahead prices). Their office claims that the expanded service could be available "soon." However, the device would still be an excellent way to manage your household energy usage. If you continued to check prices through our already available channels while then using TED to get up to the second usage data, then you could be assured that the steps you are taking to conserve your usage are working.


Currently you have to wait until your billing period is up to examine your hour by hour usage through Ameren's Energy Saving Toolkit, but this product would be a dramatically more effective tool to make the most cost cutting changes. Some Power Smart Pricing customers have said they like the program because it's feels like a game to see how much they can save and how much they can shift. With a TED device you could get a high price notification or receive the Daily Price Report from twitter and know exactly which hours you should conserve and then get the immediate feedback that you are doing it properly.

The cost of the device ranges from $100 - $250. It has to be attached to your circuit breaker and wired into your home so unless you are comfortable with that kind of work you will probably want to hire an electrician. Ultimately the cost seems small enough that if you actively used the newly available information, along with the price signals from Power Smart Pricing, that you could make up that initial investment in a relatively short amount of time.

For more on the TED-Google Partnership.

For more information on a TED device.

The Ted Store.

10/4 Energy & Environment Links

Lemnis Lighting’s LED Bulb: It Dims But Costs $40

Standard-household-sized LED bulbs have long raised a common complaint: They don’t dim easily. Yeah, some can be dimmed by controlling the current instead of the voltage, or by making them flicker at high speeds undetectable by the human eye, but homeowners can’t just plug them into their normal light sockets and expect their dimmers to work. But that looks to be changing, with the launch of an LED bulb to replace a standard 60-watt incandescent bulb from Netherlands-based Lemnis Lighting on Friday.

Start-up crunches data for home energy efficiency tips

When it comes to saving money on utility bills, good data beats out fancy energy displays any day, say the founders of energy efficiency start-up Opower. The Arlington, Va.-based company on Thursday officially launched its energy efficiency recommendation service, after months of operating in stealth mode. Opower, previously called Positive Energy, has signed on with 18 utilities in the U.S. to provide customer usage information and recommendations on how to lower consumption of electricity and heating fuel.

Chumby One improves on predecessor

Two-years after the first Chumby helped kick-start widgets in Wi-Fi gadgets, a new version looks likely for November. First spied on blurrycam in August, the Chumby One has a new hard shell, FM and Internet radio, and a faster processor.

IL Solar Tour Kick Off

This weekend the American Solar Energy Society is kicking off their National Solar Tour which includes many homes in Illinois. The tour will highlight solar options available with an additional focus on energy-saving techniques and sustainability. It will surely be a great place to talk to members of your community about the benefits and more importantly the things to watch out for when purchasing solar energy equipment.

Solar power can be a great addition for people who are on a real-time pricing program because those times that have the highest prices will generally occur when energy output from the sun is also at its peak, hot summer afternoons). As every home is a bit different, this tour provides a great way for you, as a homeowner, to seek out some very useful information.

For more information and to find a tour near you go to http://ases.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=549&Itemid=35

In Southern Illinois there you might be able to join this one (mostly along the Southern Illinois wine trail).

There are also a few around the Champaign-Urbana metro area, including the passive solar Smith House that has been covered on the blog.

Illinois Solar Energy Association www.illinoissolar.org 

9/26 Energy & Environment Links

How Brad Pitt Could Spark a Green Building Revolution

Brad Pitt started the Make It Right foundation in 2007 to rebuild homes for residents in New Orleans who lost theirs to Hurricane Katrina. Which would have been plenty admirable if that was the extent of the mission. But the foundation figured, since all eyes are on the rebuilding of Katrina, wouldn't this be a fine chance to make an ironclad case for green building?

A123Systems Shares Jump 50% in Nasdaq Debut

A123Systems’ Nasdaq debut Thursday thoroughly justified the company’s confidence in its initial public offering, with the stock leaping more than 50 percent to close at $20.29 per share after pricing at $13.50 per share Wednesday.

Build a Better Bulb for a $10 Million Prize

The ubiquitous but highly inefficient 60-watt light bulb badly needs a makeover. And it could be worth millions in government prize money — and more in government contracts — to the first company that figures out how to do it.

GE Continues Smart Grid Push

GE has launched a new website called itsyoursmartgrid.com.  Ever since their very inventive "If I only had a Brain" Super Bowl ad GE has led an engaging marketing campaign informing the public on the benefits of a smart grid. I could go on, but no one says it better than our own Anthony Star, "The easily understood, educational content on itsyoursmartgrid.com provides information in a simple, straight-forward manner that I've yet to find elsewhere on the Web."

Anthony is the Director of Policy and Evaluation here at CNT Energy and much of his recent work has been centered around shaping future smart grid policy in conjunction with many of the leading professionals in this emerging field. Over the past week, this influential conversation has taken place at the premier smart grid conference called Gridweek in Washington, DC. Keynote addresses were given by Secretary of the US Department of Energy Stuven Chu, and Secretary of the US Department of Commerce Gary Locke.

While experts of energy and policy can discuss the finest elements of the smart grid for an entire week using the latest industry terminology, it takes an entirely different effort to communicate its potential to the average person. GE has continued to refine and enhance its message using the web to engage potential users of this technology about its many benefits. Check out the GE's video accompanying the launch of the website.



Learn (much) more at itsyoursmartgrid.com.
GE's official press release.

PSP in the Herald-Review

Tony Reid of the Decatur Herald-Review penned a great article about Power Smart Pricing. It includes some interesting quotes from a local participant and the Citizens Utility Board.

Read the full article here.

More on the Citizen's Utility Board here.

9/19 Energy & Environment Links

New feature: Energy and Environment Links -
This new feature will allow the PSP Blog to add more content without dedicating a whole post to topics that may not influence Power Smart Pricing customers to directly. Hopefully this will become a regular weekend feature.

Whole Foods Market® Helps Fund New Wind Farm, Makes Landmark Purchase of Wind Energy Credits

Whole Foods Market today announced the completion of its 2009 landmark 776 million-kilowatt-hour purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs) from wind farms.

The White House Takes Aim at LEED Certification

The White House is doing its part in leading the way to a more sustainable nation. Not only are they growing their own food on site with Michelle Obama’s garden, but now even they’re aiming for LEED certification!

Are ESL bulbs better than CFL or LED?

A novel design for energy-efficient lightbulbs can produce incandescent-quality light and does not contain mercury like compact fluorescents (CFLs), according to manufacturer Vu1.

Free E-Smart Thermostat As Ameren Customer

Through Ameren's Act On Energy website customers can receive a free internet enabled thermostat (a $250 value!). The E-Smart Programmable Thermostat can be accessed online so you can change the temperature settings in your home remotely. This is a great opportunity for Power Smart Pricing customers who check prices online.

The program will also automatically help you conserve electricity. During peak demand periods, times that will generally feature the highest prices of the year, the thermostat will automatically change its settings to cycle the central air conditioner on and off. This will lower its energy consumption, significantly aiding the utility to conserve its resources, and ultimately lowering your bills.

With other enhanced features, participants can easily program their house to take advantage of precooling their home in the summer and more freely respond to high prices. The online user interface provides a convenient way to navigate through all the features the thermostat provides without having to use the limited buttons and screen sizes of traditional thermostats. Sitting down for 5 minutes and programming this thermostat will save you tons of time and money later on. 

For more information, check out the FAQ page (pdf).

Update: This promotion is limited to certain zip codes around Champaign and Peoria in its initial offering. 

Design Concepts in Energy Displays

Arriving all the way from Brussels we can find a series of interesting design concepts to report and track household energy consumption. Most conventional products getting developed look more like traditional programmable thermostats, but this exhibition is anything but ordinary.

The Visual Voltage Exhibition at Design Vlaanderen is definitely pushing the envelope. The show hopes to provide information on electricity, energy consumption, and environmental issues. Whether or not you come to the conclusion that any of these concepts are practical, they at least give you an opportunity to think about it in an entirely different light.

With Power Smart Pricing getting price information to our customers in an easy way is of utmost importance. We are constantly seeking and examining the ways in which our participants want and currently receive their information. Since the price of electricity changes each hour, ease of access to the information becomes a high priority.

In the past we have incorporated a great tool called The Price Light. It is an orb that changes colors in a range of blue (for the lowest prices) to red (the highest). We have documented data that shows that participants using the Price Light shifted more of their electricity to lower priced times. Due to technology restraints, reliability concerns, and cost we had to discontinue its use, but since we have been eager to fill its void with another device.

No one would have guessed that a light that changed colors could do some much. Check out the designs from the visual voltage exhibition here.

New Energy Star Standard for TVs

Energy Star is revising its qualifications for televisions effective on May 1, 2010 and again in 2012. One of the key changes is that all tv's over 50" will be required to meet the same energy standard to achieve the coveted sticker. In past versions energy efficiency was measured as the amount of wattage per square inch of screen.

The version 4.0 Energy Star sticker, the standard set for May 2010, will require 40 percent greater efficiency, while the version 5.0 sticker will require 65 percent more efficiency than a TV sold today.

This is an interesting approach for the EPA. In most cases with the Energy Star rating the emphasis is placed how much output you can get for the amount of energy required to use the application. The shift towards putting a cap on the maximum amount of energy to receive the rating has conservation in mind.

Ultimately, consumer need will drive technology innovation. As long as shoppers continue to place energy standards at a high priority, the television makers will have to match. All for one little sticker...

For more from CNET GreenTech.
Straight from the source at Energy Star.

Home Energy Savings Can be Confusing..

Many people choose to enroll in Power Smart Pricing because it gives them a way to save money off their monthly bills by using their electricity more wisely. In essence it gives customers another way to save. However it is important to not overlook the many ways households can lower their bills through more traditional approaches. In most cases, lowering overall energy consumption comes from incorporating methods that are specific to each households situation.

People have a tendency to leaves lights, tvs, and computers on while they are not being used. All of this extra cost comes from the same type of behavior. Fixing this issue first takes the recognition that you are in fact doing these things. Leaving something on is often due to forgetfulness, and therefore it can be difficult to keep track of something you are forgetting to do. No worries, just sit and think about it for a minute...

Other than personal behavior changes sometimes the extra energy used each month comes from inefficient system of household appliances and insulation. The new heating and air conditioning does not help much if the windows are left open. The washing machine's cool settings may provide the same cleaning power as the hot water setting, but if you cannot help but do it the same way you always have... well your bills will be more like they have always been too.

I recently found an article that can help clear up some of the common misconceptions about home energy solutions. Whether or not each of these improvements apply to work you are thinking of doing around your home or not, they provide a good lesson in how to think about savings and where they really come from.

Check out this recent article from Earth2Tech.

GE's Kitchen of the Future

GE has long had its hand in developing the emerging technologies that can take advantage of added integration with a smart grid. CNET recently wrote a story outlining what GE's vision is for the kitchen of the future. It describes how an internet-enabled network of appliances, homes, and utilities will expand the possibilities for enhanced energy saving and consumer, as well as utility, cost reduction.

One interesting aspect of the article is how much of the innovation relies on electricity price signals from the wholesale electricity market. As Power Smart Pricing participants, it is easy to see the benefit of a refrigerator that will wait to make ice or not use its defroster during high priced times, but most residential utility customers do not have access to the variable rates that would enable this technology to lower their monthly bills.

We are firm advocates of electricity pricing choice. We know that not all customers can benefit from real-time pricing, but most in fact can. Given the current low prices of electricity in 2009, over 99% of our customers are saving with Power Smart Pricing. This figure is significantly bolstered by the 27% average participants have been able to achieve this year. Considering the billions of dollars going into the implementation of Smart Grid technologies, its significant to note what households on Power Smart Pricing have been able to achieve in many cases without much more than picking up the telephone.

We are incredibly grateful for the efforts our customers have made and we are actively spreading your achievements nationwide to firmly give you the recognition you deserve as pioneers in this emerging field. It is clear that these new technologies along with real-time electricity pricing can save energy and money, but the biggest influence factor of all is simply the availability of a dynamic rate. The real opportunity lies with the average person in the average household. No assembly required.

CNET's Kitchen of the Future article is here.

Cash for Refrigerators

Business Week has put out an article this week outlining an upcoming federal rebate program that will give rebates and discounts on Energy Star rated appliances. Without a catchy title, people have declared the new incentive program "Cash for Refrigerators" (after the very popular Cash for Clunkers program).

The program includes $300 million set aside for consumers to purchase all kinds of energy efficient appliances from washers, dryers, refrigerators, and more...! Rebates will be given out in an amount ranging from $50 to $200 at the time of purchase.

Unlike the CARS program, buyers will not be forced to scrap their old appliances. But no worries because Ameren's Act On Energy portfolio includes a refrigerator recycling program. After you set up your pick up date, Ameren will come to your home and take your old working appliance and recycle it for you. If that's not easy enough, Ameren will give you (as in pay you) a $35 credit on your bill.

For more on "Cash for Refrigerators", read the Business Week article here.

Back from the State Fair & In the News

Power Smart Pricing joined the Ameren Act On Energy tent at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. It was a lot of fun, and passing customers learned a lot about phantom load, appliance recycling, and of course Power Smart Pricing. Many thanks to all the organizers who put in the work to make such an interactive and engaging area to match the fun and energy of the Fair. It was a great success.

While away Power Smart Pricing was featured in the Belleville News-Democrat. The story highlights the low prices our customers have been able to enjoy and turn into savings in the first half of 2009. With natural gas prices hitting a 7 year low, it seems that a lot of energy prices are following a similar trend.

Bill inserts are continuing to go out and some customers are receiving specials letters in the mail. Keep up the work of telling your friends and neighbors about your experiences with the program and don't forget about out Home Depot Refer-a-Friend campaign!

More from the Belleville News-Democrat here.

Continued Coverage from Danville Article

One of the blogs that we have followed on the blog roll called Knowledge Problem wrote up a quick summary of the Danville article. In following the comments we decided to address some of the missing gaps of information and expand further on the benefits of our variable pricing program.

Here was are response:

I should say upfront that I am one of administrators of the Power Smart Pricing program. I am also a daily reader of KP. Great work.

As far as savings are concerned, the average savings for our entire customer base is 13% since the beginning of the program in Jan 2007. Over time the savings levels has fluctuated as power prices change, but we’ve had a very good run lately. In 2009 with the wholesale market price for electricity being so low, the average savings for customers has jumped to 27%. Ameren’s flat rates went down a bit in June which has cut into those savings a bit during the summer but since summer power prices haven’t increased as much as in past summers, the numbers continue to look really good. Not paying a risk premium for a flat rate is what’s making the program attractive to customers.

We hear your concerns about the participation fee and do agree is one disincentive to participation. The history of the fee is that the legislation that enabled this program required utilities to spread the costs of it between participants and residential non-participants. Since Ameren doesn’t yet have smart meters, there was a need to figure out how to pay for the interval recording meters that get installed for participants on the program as well as the program administration costs. Absent this program, Ameren charges $5 a month for this type of meter. The $2.25 fee was a negotiated reduction with the rest of the costs being spread out across the residential rate base via a rider (currently about 6 cents a month). Long term we hope that the cost of meters gets dealt with in different ways as AMI/Smart metering plans get determined. If it were a common cost, the incremental cost of this program would be substantially lower

With the mention of fuel pricing, we have unbundled utilities in Illinois that don’t own their own generation but rather procure power for flat rate customers via the Illinois Power Agency (and some legacy contracts from our ill-fated reverse auction). Therefore the fuel price risk isn’t really a factor or concern to the utility.

We also do like automation to help customers, but it of course comes at a price. We’ve been really proud of what our participants do without automation, they have a good elasticity of demand to price. (see: http://www.cntenergy.org/real-time-electricity-pricing.php for the evaluation reports) We are working in areas where internet usage isn’t that high

Our organization is definitely one that centers on environmental policy, but this program has really proven to attract all types of customers. Most are looking to save some money and are not that concerned with energy consumption or its environmental impacts. In fact, most of our customers don’t even use computers on a regular basis. Automation would help to a degree, but our customers have shown that simple price signals have been able to work on their own. See the evaluation reports at: http://www.cntenergy.org/real-time-electricity-pricing.php. Our participants don’t think of themselves as advanced or cutting edge. It’s simply people realizing that variable pricing is a better option for them.

I write our blog over at http://www.powersmartpricing.blogspot.com. Come over and check it out if you want to follow our program a little more. For example, we are particularly excited about our new use of twitter to broadcast prices.

Check out the original Knowledge Problem post here.

And.. the follow up.

PSP In the Danville Commercial-News

The Commercial-News wrote an article about Power Smart Pricing. There are some informative quotes from Jim Chilsen, CUB Communications Director. The Citizen's Utility Board (CUB) is a watchdog group that advocates consumer protections among a wide range of issues. His attribution to the article is a great source.

One clarification on the article would be to explain that Power Smart Pricing can be great option for many high winter users even some with electric heat. Some Ameren Utility customers have access to a space heat rate that in my cases is a better electricity pricing option than Power Smart Pricing.

However the customers that do not receive this special rate are highly recommended into learning more about Power Smart Pricing. The lowest prices of the year traditionally occur during the cooler fall, winter, and spring months so therefore customers with high winter usage are likely to save on their bills.

Check out the story here.

Any customers from the Danville area interested in writing a letter to the editor to add any additional information about being a customer on the program?

Write a comment to the post or email us at info@cntenergy.org. Thanks!

Get Price Report Texted to Your Phone

Follow Power Smart Pricing on twitter and set the service to text your phone. Each evening at 6pm you will receive a text message that tells you the low and high price for electricity for the following day. It might be advanced technology, but it's a simple way to lower your bills and help lower peak demand.

For example: Thu, Aug 06: Low @1.3 cents from 3am-4am, High@ 3.6 cents from 3pm-4pm.

Prices this summer have been really low so it can be easy to ignore prices. However you don't want to forget about the RTP Supplier Charge. During your billing period, the hour that has the highest overall system pick gets flagged and your usage during this hour is charged an extra amount. This charge is assessed to all customers (not just Power Smart Pricing accounts), but customers with hourly prices have the ability to lower the amount that they are charged by lowering their electricity usage during these hours.

A higher price for electricity is a good indication that a particular hour could be the system peak for your billing period, but there is not a direct correlation. System peaks generally occur between 2-5pm so the same things you are doing to lower your monthly bills will help you lower your RTP Supplier Charge.

Use twitter to keep up on which hours are most likely to carry the system peak. Again, its easy, and its information that will come straight to your pocket!!!

Follow us at www.twitter.com/powersmart. Sign up for an account if you don't already have one and indicate that you would like to receive our messages on your mobile phone.

All LEED Projects to Provide Performance Data

Buildings are responsible for around 70% of the energy use in the United States. They also provide opportunities for low cost energy efficiency improvements that can often be paid for in direct energy cost savings in a short period of time. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) sponsors an award called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) that certifies excellence in building design and its performance.

CNT Energy's building has received the highest rating, Platinum, for the reconstruction we did in 2005. Since then we have monitored its performance to make sure it has achieved the goals that it was expected to, and track how our daily use in the building has effected the results. We have done this out of curiosity, and in our belief that performance monitoring and maintenance should be an active part of a certification for LEED buildings.

In the release of the new standards for LEED 2009, the USGBC has declared that certified buildings must report back their energy and water use performance for the first 5 years. This will not only make sure that building operators are achieving the results the building is modeled for, but it will also provide a lot of data so the USGBC can make the best changes to their certification that maximize the designs that have the best results.

A buzz word in the energy efficiency world is the "Snackwell Effect." Like the popular cookie a few years back, it has less calories but the consumers would end up eating more of them and the healthy snack lost its edge. Some families that change their lightbulbs to CFLs have a tendency to leave them on all day because they're energy efficient. Of course, at the end of the month the bill won't look any different. Actively monitoring performance will help the building owners get the most out of their LEED certified investment.

For more information check out this BuildingGreen.com article.

Potential of $1.2 Trillion in Energy Efficiency Savings

According to a report from McKinsey & Company the US could save $1.2 trillion by 2020 with an investment of $520 billion towards non-transportation energy efficiency. The reduction in energy use would prevent the output of 1.1 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions each year. This would be the equivalent of taking all of the passenger vehicles and light trucks off the roads.

A lot of people are fixated on new ways to generate electricity, but this study explores the arguably more reliable solution of new ways to lower the amount of energy we use. In many cases the investment is made in technology that we already have. Whether its weatherizing someone's home, or installing more efficient lighting and windows, the opportunities need expansion and not invention.

Energy efficiency must be treated as a fuel. If the same emphasis was placed on going after the hard to reach fuels throughout the world as it was to lower the energy required to run something, the existing resources we have already employed will become more powerful. If households required half the energy, the utility would require half the power plants (which end up getting paid for by the consumer) to match the demand.

"If we do nothing, we will waste $1.2 trillion of energy," McKinsey partner Ken Ostrowski said. "Over a decade, (the up-front investment) would be $50 billion a year, which is about five times what we invest today. That investment pays back--it's one of the few that generate environmental benefits and economic cost returns."

For more information check out CNET's Green Tech blog.
Read the entire report here (pdf).
Read the executive summary here (pdf).

PSP Updates Twitter Page

Power Smart Pricing has made some changes to their twitter page. Starting yesterday, each evening at 6pm we will tweet the highest and lowest price for the following day. Think of it just like a weather report giving you a generally sense of what to expect. It is also set up to tweet the price is going to rise above 13 cents as another way to receive your high price notification.

Here's a sample:

Thu, Jul 09: Low @ 1¢ from 2am - 3am, High @ 3.8¢ from 3pm - 4pm

Looks good. Easy to use.

Follow us at http://twitter.com/powersmart

Microsoft Joins the Home Energy Management Fray

Microsoft has recently unveiled its home energy management online tool called Microsoft Hohm. The tool allows the user to enter data about their home and their energy usage to determine personalized and effective energy savings tips. More information from unique users will enhance results as the site will be able to more effectively match usage patterns and one's home profile with energy savings.

Once you login with a Windows Live ID (an existing account will work) the layout is very easy to manage. Your home profile is very detailed and the site will update how far along you are in the process as you gather your information. If your utility is a partner of Microsoft Hohm, your monthly bills can be automatically uploaded into your site (neither Ameren nor ComEd have joined this partnersip). For everyone else there is a simple place that you can enter your billing information each month. All you need to provide is your billing start and end date and the amount of kwh (for electricity) and therms (for gas) that you have used during that period.

The more information you can provide, and the more people that provide it, the better the service will be for everyone. Considering Microsoft's outstanding legacy and history of getting people to use their products, this is a piece of software worth watching. If more utilities were to partner (as Microsoft is hoping and actively seeking), then the number of users would rise at a fast pace. Currently there are about four utilites that have signed on, mostly in the West Coast.

If you are the type of person that keeps your bills on hand, but never looks at them, then this site might be a good help. As you enter your data, you will be able to examine more detailed charts and graphs that will follow your usage. Given your home profile and your billing data, Microsoft Hohm will estimate what portion of your bills are going to what appliances and behaviors. It will provide the most cost effective solutions, and it will definitely help you save money.

The one negative is that it takes some effort from the consumer. You have to be engaged in energy saving to get the most out of the tool. To continue on the metaphor, they give you the hammer and the nail, but you still have to build the porch. The site is worth checking out. It's on par with some of the management tools out there. Despite not having the capacity to handle variable pricing like Power Smart Pricing, it can still be a service these customers.

Overall, good stuff.

Check out Microsoft Hohm.

U of I at Champaign-Urbana Cutting Energy Use by 10%

Illinois' flagship campus is ahead of schedule to cut energy usage by 10% this year. The university expects the reduction in usage to save a very significant $5 million in energy costs. Wow...

“We’re heading toward a 10 percent reduction this year, and I don’t think we could have done that without the campus units getting on board,” said Terry Ruprecht, director of energy conservation at Facilities and Services. “Folks out there are doing whatever small things they can do. It really is one of those nifty things where a whole bunch of people are putting their shoulders to the wheel and making it work.”

The University has by no means settled on their accomplishments thus far. Future projects look to continue the trend of using smart investment to lower energy costs. The programs will be able to recoup the retrofit costs with energy savings and through local and federal incentive programs.

For further detail and information check out this Illinois Energy News article.