Smart Grid Commercial Coming to Super Bowl

Sorry if I ruined some of the suspense. I know half of the viewers who watch the Super Bowl are more interested in the commercials. Well, here's the spoiler:

GE is shelling out the cash for a 30 second spot on a Smart Grid. The ad will show "a dancing Scarecrow and will discuss a smarter, more efficient, and sustainable electrical energy grid." (If only our grid had a brain.)

The goal here is to raise public awareness. GE makes just about everything and that includes the parts needed for an upgrade to the transmission grid. So when Congress puts in the spending for a new grid, the public will know what they're talking about.

We all know the benefits of a smart grid. Power Smart Pricing customers have been able to benefit from one of the improvements that comes with this system, variable pricing. Once further investment and improvements are made the rest of perks will follow: few power outages for a shorter period of time, less transmission loss, and easier movement and usage of renewable energy sources.

It will be interesting to see if this type of ad is on its own, or if there will be others advocating various energy issues.

Photo courtesy of GE.

GE's Ecomagination site.

Peoria YMCA Received $24,400 Incentive Check

The Canton Family YMCA received an Act On Energy (TM) incentive check of $24,416.10 for their completed energy efficiency improvements. The YMCA made a lighting upgrade throughout their building utilizing the incentives set in place for Ameren's business customers.

The project consisted of a complete overhaul of the lighting system. The upgrade will reduce their energy demand with fewer fixtures while providing more light. Previously, the Canton Family YMCA had 448 light fixtures that required a total of 120,142 watts. The new system uses 424 light fixtures and only 52,240.

The reduction in energy costs plus the Act On Energy incentive will allow the project to pay for itself in just 18 months. After which time, the lower costs will continue to provide savings.

YMCA Executive Director Don Heller says that "by saving money on our energy and maintenance costs, we can provide better programs and facilities to our community that will enhance their lives. That is the Canton Family YMCA mission."

A great story of energy efficiency used for the benefit of an entire community all with a little help from the utility.

Here's the entire press release.

Saving on Water Saving

At CNT Energy we center our work on lowering energy bills for single family households, multifamily residential properties, commercial buildings, and smart energy planning for entire regions. Power Smart Pricing is the main concentration of our staff and therefore we are mostly concerned with electricity usage. That being said, electricity cannot be the only focus when you are looking for a reduction in your bills. So today I want to shed some light on another way to lower your bills, conserving your water usage and how to upgrade to a high efficiency water heater.

Water conservation provides a smaller cash incentive, but its positive implications are felt worldwide. America offers clean fresh water with relative ease, but water shortage is constant struggle for many third world countries. Kohler, a giant faucet manufacturer, has launched a campaign called Save Water America. The site provides water saving tips and a list of conservation products you can buy (theirs of course). Take the short quiz and Kohler will donate a dollar for Habitat for Humanity to purchase water saving products.

Other than heating and cooling, your household water heater is the largest energy expenditure. The average household spends $400-$600 per year on water heating. The EnergyStar.gov website has a great breakdown of your choices of high efficiency units on the market. Obviously there is no need to replace a fully functioning water heater that still has plenty of life left, but if you are shopping around energystar.gov is a great resource. Many of your purchases even qualify for a $300 Federal Tax Credit in 2009.

For the list of energy efficiency tax credits click here.

Bill Insert on the Way

Keep on the lookout for a Power Smart Pricing bill insert in your next bill. Most people tend to avoid the miscellaneous sheets of paper that sometimes accompany their bills, but there can be very useful information on them. Tell your friends and family to keep an eye out!

Demand Response and EnerNoc

Among policy circles of electricity consumption experts, demand response has become a hot topic. Demand response, sometimes referred to simply as DR, is the amount customers alter their electricity consumption during times of high demand on the electric grid. The reason it has become so important is because peak demand drives the price of electricity up and places the most stress on the grid during the year.

Power Smart Pricing customers understand this idea better than most any electric customers throughout the United States. There is a very clear pricing incentive to lower your electricity usage on those hot summer afternoons.

When CNT Energy goes to conferences to discuss our work, we focus on the demand response of our Power Smart Pricing customers. In the case of most electricity pricing programs, customers do not have any incentive to alter their electricity consumption during times of high demand.

Some utilities take the matter in their own hands by instituting a dynamic demand mechanism. This term refers to ways the utility can lower household consumption on their own. For example, an air condition cycling program gives the utility control over a household's largest electrical appliance. The ability to manage consumption is so important that utility companies even offer a bill credit to have this control.

Like all good ideas, someone has figured out how to profit from it. EnerNoc manages large scale building energy consumption. According to the company, they currently manage 2 to 2.2 gigawatts nationwide. Their business is growing with deals like they recently made with the City of Boston to manage its public buildings. Aside from complex demand response solutions, EnerNoc can show an organization where and when they are wasting their energy consumption.

Here is another example of PSP customers being ahead of the curve. Continue achieving great savings results and responding to peak demand!

$32 Billion Proposed for Smart Grid in 2009

On the first day of a new Presidential Administration it is fitting to write about one of their most ambitious plans. Inside the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009 has $80 billion ear marked for IT improvements. Of that, $32 billion is designated for enhancement in America's smart meter system and $20 billion is going towards renewable energy.

Smartmeters.com has a great article that describes how a smart grid would be integrated with renewable energy sources. It also goes on to explain the benefit smart grid technology would have on the ability for utilities to track and correct areas of transmission loss.

It remains to be seen how this money would actually be used to help infrastructure. This system would work seamlessly with real-time and time of use programs like Power Smart Pricing.

Smartmeters.com: Latest stimulus chatter calls for $32 billion for smart grid

Welcome Barack!

Our new President gave us a glimpse of the task ahead. Here is a quote from his Inaugural Address on the use of energy.

It's time to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work of remaking America. Roads, bridges, electric lines, harness the sun, and the wind and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. All this we can do; all this we will do.

Best of luck to the Obama Administration! We must not forget that as citizens we also have a duty to work for the changes that we demand.

Environmental Working Group Research on CFL's

People love CFL’s. Wait, that’s not it. People love to complain about CFL’s. “I bought one and then it burned out immediately.” “They’re ugly.” “They have mercury in them.” “They make me look like a cadaver.” Well all of that is over now. Today, with the help the Environmental Working Group, I am going to set the record straight.

CFL’s save money, and the planet. Their key is using less electricity to produce the same amount of light. The demand for this combination came at a time when the companies producing the lamps were eagerly finding ways to lower the price to be more competitive with the tradition Thomas Edison incandescent. This led to shelves being stocked with CFL’s that did not have some of the features that consumers had grown accustom to with their incandescents.

Things have changed. Reliability, versatility, and competition have improved the product while continuing to lower the initial costs. The EWG Shopper's Guide lists the 7 CFL bulbs that contain the least amount of mercury. Included on this list is the Earthmate Mini-Size Bulb that can be found on the Ameren online CFL discount page.

Although it is important to take note of the mercury found in each bulb. One of the major sources of mercury emissions is coal-fired electrical plants. Considering the lower need for electricity as compared to an incandescent bulb, CFL’s generate 70 percent less mercury pollution.

The shopper's guide also includes a savings calculator that can be tailored to the average price of electricity in Illinois.

Here's the entire guide.

Thanks Bloomington!

State Farm put on a great two day event for its employees. Special thanks to Betsy McDermeit for arranging all the details and making sure the Energy Expo was carried out successfully.

We were able to speak directly with many potential and current customers. The State Farm employees were extremely interested in learning about some of their energy options around the state.

I had never been to Bloomington before, but the town looked to be in great shape. It was very easy to see and feel the connection between State Farm and its home in Bloomington. Both the North and South Campuses of their headquarters were very impressive buildings that I am sure the city is very proud of. Thanks again!

Continuing the Conference Trend

The PSP Blog is out on the road in Bloomington, IL. The State Farm corporate office is hosting an Energy Expo for its employees.

Last year was a great event and we are looking forward to another opportunity to introducing Power Smart Pricing to people who can really save with this kind of program.

I'll be asking people to "Ask me how you can save your electricity without installing a wind turbine."

CES 2009 - Phantom Load

The amount of energy used by products when they are in standby mode is significant. The average U.S. household spends $100 per year to power devices while they are off (or in standby mode). On a national basis, standby power accounts for more than 100 billion kilowatt hours of annual U.S. electricity consumption and more than $10 billion in annual energy costs.
- www.energystar.gov

Electronics companies are slowly learning some innovative ways to fight phantom load without sacrificing product quality. A more informed customer base is pushing these changes. Here are a few notes from CES 2009:

Bravia Eco HDTV: They brought back a switch on the side of TV that will turn off the main power supply so it will have “zero power consumption in standby mode.” This is the same as using our tried-and-true power strip method, but they have made it more convenient.

HP Monster GreenPower: At first glance you should be concerned with any product with the word “green” in the title. Beware Green Washing. GreenPower is a feature on one of the HP Monster PowerCenters (fancy words for surge protector). It has two types of plugs. One is for the computer, and the others are for everything else. Once the computer is turned off, the PowerCenter cuts supply to the rest of the gadgets.

On the OLED front… Universal Display Corporation developed a flexible OLED prototype wristband display (pictured w/o wristband below) with support from the US Department of Defense. The fact that it is flexible, durable, produces a crisp picture, and runs on little electricity gives this technology so many possible applications. – Hat tip to Engadget

In other news... CES 2009

The International Consumer Electronics Show kicked off last night in Las Vegas. This is the premier event for everything electronic. It's a lot like a car show with new models and concepts that will be hitting the market, or at least stirring interest, over the next year. 

As the energy movement is hitting full stride, this year's event promises to show off a lot of exciting advancements related to energy efficiency in our homes. I will be posting all the news and notes about the products on display that will change the way we use electricity.

Smart homes and meters will undoubtably be a topic, but first I want to start off with a goofy toy. 

Owikits 6-in-1 Solar Toy Building Kit

This is a 21 piece toy set that can be made into six different objects. It includes everything from an airboat to a car to a walking puppy. Best of all the kit ranges from only $15 -$20. This is a great way to get kids involved early with the potential of renewable energy. However, for now it just looks like fun. 

For more from Owikits check out their website. 

I found this story via Inhabitat.

TIME Magazine Cover Story on Energy Efficiency

Today I read an interesting article by Michael Grunwald in TIME magazine about energy efficiency. He discusses how it is the first step into solving our country’s energy issues.

“A nationwide push to save ‘negawatts’ instead of building more megawatts could help reverse our unsustainable increases in energy-hogging.” (Note the use of “negawatts” of PSP Blog fame.)

The key to energy efficiency, Grunwald points out, is to not necessarily use less, but to get the same or more energy out of less. In fact, “the Alliance to Save Energy calculates that without the efficiency gains we we’ve made since the last energy crises in 1973, our economy would use nearly 50% more energy today. That’s more than we get from oil, twice what we get from coal or natural gas, and six times what we get from nuclear plants.”

Grunwald goes on to discuss the current roles of Big Business, electric utilities, and the government towards better energy efficiency standards. He comes close, but does not mention the effort of certain residential electric customers in Illinois who lower their usage during peak times.

Here’s the full article.

TV Energy Efficiency Regulation in CA

Today the LA Times is reporting that California state regulators are drafting the nation’s first rules requiring retailers to sell only the most energy efficient models, starting in 2011.

The California Energy Commission is looking for ways to relieve the strain on the power grid. Officials claim the potential energy savings would equal the annual energy consumption of 86,400 homes. Televisions currently account for about 10% of the average Californian’s household electricity bill.

The Consumer Electronics Association is concerned that the standards will have a negative impact on the television industry especially if the standards could not be met in time. Energy Commission member Arthur Rosenfeld noted that 87% of current stock complies with the planned 2011 threshold, and that the deadline could get pushed back if the industry needs a little more time “to get used to the standards,” he said.

Although the regulations would not directly affect Illinois, the television manufacturers would be forced to weigh the added costs of producing one kind of TV for CA and another for everyone else. The consumer population of California may be large enough to push the industry toward a more energy efficient future.


For more check out the LA Times article here.

NRDC's The Green Squad

The National Resource Defense Council is the one of the nation's most effective environmental action organizations. They developed an interactive guide for kids to look for ways to improve their schools. It is similar to CNT Energy’s Energy Savers program that performs multi-family residential building audits in the Chicago area. However, this puts the tools in the hands of the students.

The Green Squad teaches kids about the relationship between their schools and environmental and health issues. The site is designed primarily for students in fifth through eighth grade, but also offers information for younger and older students as well as parents and teachers.

The Green Squad

More PSP on Facebook

Our Facebook group is getting underway. The numbers are growing slightly, but growing is the important part. We really want to encourage you to sign up because it will be a great way to learn more about the program from fellow participants.

The first discussion about the program was about Precooling. Now that its about zero degrees outside, this isn't the most seasonal article.

Zuzu asked: So I am up to renew my PSP in Feb , but I'm not sure if I want to because of how much more I spend in the summer... why should I keep it?

and Kristy responded: Best thing to do in Summer is to super cool down the house at night until about 10:00 am while power is really cheap and then gradually let it get a bit warmer during the day. We've done great in the summers by doing that. Also, it makes for a comfortable sleeping temp.


One of the "discoveries" that many of our participants made this past summer was with Precooling. It's an idea that has been really effective for some families, and it is a great method to keep costs down during hot summer afternoons.

Reading about it on facebook allowed our facebook administrator to see the comments and post a link to our fact sheet on precooling. Now we can provide all the extra little tidbits of information that we have learned about Power Smart Pricing.

We strongly believe that Facebook and the PSP blog can be a great resource for us to communicate with you and for you with each other.

Link to the Facebook group

Link to the Precooling factsheet