Top 5 - Top Energy Sustainability Blog Posts

At this time of year blogs from around the Internet join in the holiday tradition of recapping the year that was in lists. So what better way to join than to appreciate the top 5 "Top list" blog posts of the year.

1. GigaOM’s top 10 green stories of 2011

2. Smart grid winners, losers (and fence-sitters) 2011

3. Top 5 Smart Grid Trends of 2011

4. Home Energy Management: 8 Big Trends in 2011

5. The Top 5 Smart Grid Disappointments of 2011

So now you have plenty to read so enjoy one of the Top 5 times of the year. Happy holidays!

How to Compare Savings with Power Smart Pricing

This year you may have noticed other companies offering discounted electricity supply rates in your area. These companies are referred to as Retail Electric Suppliers. Retail Electric Suppliers are companies that have received approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission to offer an alternative competitive price for the electricity supply that you use. Their offers cover the supply portion of your bill, but like Power Smart Pricing, do not change the delivery services portion of your bill. As a Power Smart Pricing customer, you need to be aware of the following in order to make an informed decision when considering switching to a Retail Electricity Supplier:

If you sign up for a Retail Electric Supplier, you will be removed from Power Smart Pricing. At this time, you cannot enroll in both.

Savings messages provided by Retail Electric Suppliers are not estimates of savings compared with the prices you pay with Power Smart Pricing. They usually reference how much you might save compared with the Ameren Illinois standard BGS residential rate. For more information about electricity supply prices with Power Smart Pricing and the BGS residential rate, go to www.powersmartpricing.org/about-hourly-prices/.

Savings messages in offers from Retail Electric Suppliers usually refer to the electricity supply portion of the bill only. To make an “apples-to-apples” comparison of these offers with the savings you are getting with Power Smart Pricing, log in to the online bill comparison tool at www.powersmartpricing.org and look at your percent saved on the electricity supply portion of your bill only, or your total dollar amount saved. Since 2007, Power Smart Pricing participants have saved an average of 25 percent on electricity supply costs compared with the Ameren Illinois standard BGS rate.

If you switch to a Retail Electric Supplier, you can switch back to Power Smart Pricing once you switch back to utility supply service.

If you have questions about Power Smart Pricing as it relates to your electric supply options, contact us at info@powersmartpricing.org or 1-877-655-6028. More information is also available from the Illinois Commerce Commission (pluginillinois.org or 1-800-524-0795) and from the Citizen’s Utility Board (citizensutilityboard.org or 1-800-669-5556).

Follow @PowerSmart on Twitter for Prices

Remember you can follow @PowerSmart on Twitter to receive a Daily Price Report that has the highest and lowest prices for the following day.

On days that have a high price alert there is a special message.

If you are an avid twitter user, and you are interested in getting the prices sent to you, follow @PowerSmart.

Power Hungry Set Top Boxes to be Regulated?

The Energy Department is considering to place new restrictions on the energy consumption of set top cable boxes and digital recorders. This would be similar to regulations that dramatically improved the efficiency of refrigerators. The announcement comes after the National Resource Defense Council published a new study of the usage of set top boxes. Their results are fairly staggering, and it shows how targeting set top boxes can make a big impact to both our energy costs and the environment.

Like a refrigerator, the television set top box is generally running at full power 24 hours a day. When the television is off and nothing is recording, these devices will still operate at a similar energy demand. Two-thirds of their demand for power comes when the consumer is not using the device. Since the companies who are supplying these boxes do not pay for the electricity, there is little incentive for them to invest in changing their products.

According to the NRDC study:

In 2010, set-top boxes in the United States consumed approximately 27 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is equivalent to the annual output of nine average (500 MW) coal-fired power plants. The electricity required to operate all U.S. boxes is equal to the annual household electricity consumption of the entire state of Maryland, results in 16 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and costs households more than $3 billion each year.

The NRDC study has also proposed some solutions and picked out the worst types of set top boxes. In some cases they have a greater energy demand than a new energy efficient refrigerators and 42" LCD HDTVs.

Check out the very informative, 5-page study here: http://www.nrdc.org/energy/files/settopboxes.pdf

PSP Customers Have Saved $4 Million in Bill Savings

The Power Smart Pricing program surpassed a major milestone last week when its cumulative bill savings for the roughly 12,000 customers reached over $4 Million. This is great news for our participants but its also great news for all those communities. PSP households have some extra cash on hand for those more important things in life like education, health care or the simple things like an extra topping on that large pizza.

Great job everyone!!

High Price Alerts (6/7-6/8)

We had our first high price alerts with the new price threshold over the past couple days as temperatures reached well into the 90s. Three straight days of high temperatures in the middle of the week is a recipe for high prices. Prices topped out at 10 cents per kWh from 1pm-5pm on 6/8. This is just about the highest price  we saw in 2010.

Don't forget about pre-cooling! The best way to shift your usage away from high prices. http://www.powersmartpricing.org/tools/summer-tips/precooling-your-home/

Unfortunately we had some technical glitches with our email alert system and some of the alerts were delayed. We apologize for the inconvenience. We are working with our technical provider to ensure that this will not happen again.

The website also reached highs in web traffic. Tuesday June 7th, and Wednesday June 8th, had the highest visits to the PSP website ever. Clearly our participants were reacting to the high temperatures and prices to seek our more information. The behavior of how customers react to high prices is a key topic of conversation to the ICC and other public utility commissions around the country as they are trying to determine the value and benefit of dynamic pricing programs. PSP customers are cutting edge, smart and proving again and again that dynamic pricing "works."

It looks like some cooler weather is moving in and the prices have dropped a little as well. Look for even lower prices tomorrow and through the weekend.

New Ameren IL Flat Rate Prices

Ameren Illinois has finished its rate filing for its flat rate prices. The new energy supply prices DO NOT affect the prices for Power Smart Pricing. Prices went up in all rate classes by about a tenth of a cent per kWh. Below is the table of the new prices.

All prices are in cents per kilowatt hour (kWh).
Ameren Standard Rates (effective 6/1/11)

	Rate Zone III (AmerenIP)	Rate Zone II (AmerenCILCO)	Rate Zone I (AmerenCIPS)
Summer (June, July, August, and September)	5.011	5.019	5.045
Non-Summer, usage 0 - 800 kWh	5.733	6.020	6.057*
Non-Summer, over 800 kWh Non-Space Heat	5.733	3.852	6.057*
Non-Summer, over 800 kWh Space Heat**	1.881	N/A	3.434*

*Former AmerenUE customers now served by Rate Zone I (formerly AmerenCIPS) in the Metro East: 0-800 kWh non-summer is 6.057¢/kWh and over 800 kWh non-summer is 2.024¢/kWh, regardless of heating type.

** Applies only to existing premises served under Rate Zone I (formerly AmerenCIPS) Rider 5 or Rate Zone III's (formerly AmerenIP) space heat provision under SC2 as of 1/1/07. The Space Heat category is not available for new electric heat installations.

HPA Test Today (5/26)

Be on the look out for a test High Price Alert today. We are sending out a test to make sure the system is working properly ahead of the coming high prices this summer (if summer ever comes...). The TEST will be for participants by either telephone or email. In the event that a high price triggers a High Price Alert this summer you will be notified the evening before day that has the high priced hour(s). Please keep in mind that we have changed our high price alert threshold from 13 cents to 9 cents.

 If you would to change the way you receive your high price alert or the contact number/email, please call us at 1-888-655-6028 or email us at info@powersmartpricing.org to request a change.

Below is an EXAMPLE of what a high price alert email looks like:

---

This is a High Price Alert from Power Smart Pricing.

Friday, May 27th, hourly prices are at or above 9 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) as shown in the list below:

Time                      Price (cents/kWh)

3:00-4:00 PM                       9.3                                         

To manage your costs with Power Smart Pricing, please make an extra effort to conserve electricity during these hours. To view the complete day-ahead price information, go to www.powersmartpricing.org.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail us at info@powersmartpricing.org or call (877) 655-6028.

Thank you for your participation.

Sincerely,

The Power Smart Pricing Team

New Latest and Greatest in LEDs

Phillips has launched a new LED bulb to serve as a replacement for a traditional 75-watt incandescent bulb, but it comes in at an energy demand of just 17-watts. However, like all things LED, this bulb will still cost you a fortune (in terms of lightbulbs) at somewhere between $40 and $45. It's hard to imagine many people running out to Home Depot to pick one up.

What's hard to imagine is that $40 is actually quite the bargain.

It can actually save significant money on energy costs. Philips says because its new bulb lasts 25 times longer than an incandescent, and reduces energy consumption by 80 percent, the owner will save $160 per bulb over the 25,000 hours (about 17 years) of the life of its new 17-watt LED bulb.

 For more information check out the Earth2Tech post here.

RSVP to Summer Workshops Online

Get ready to save on summer energy bills

You are invited to attend a workshop and get the information you need to keep summer energy bills under control.

• Get tips on managing your summer electricity usage and costs with the Power Smart Pricing program.
• Discover no-cost and low-cost ways to save energy.
• Learn which energy-saving home improvements could offer the best return on your investment.
• Find out about programs that could help cover the cost of energy-saving home improvements.
• Get advice on how you can protect the environment by using energy efficiently.

Workshops are free of charge and refreshments will be provided.

2011 Workshop Schedule:

• May 9, 6:30 p.m., Bloomington Public Library, 205 E. Olive St., Bloomington, IL
• May 9, 6:30 p.m., Southern Illinois University, Student Center, Illinois Room,1255 Lincoln Dr., Carbondale, IL
• May 10, 6:30 p.m., Southwestern Illinois College, Liberal Arts Building, Room 2120, 2500 Carlyle Ave., Belleville, IL
• May 10, 6:30 p.m., Peoria Public Library, Lake View Branch, 1137 W. Lake Ave., Peoria, IL
• May 11, 6:30 p.m., Collinsville Public Library, 408 W. Main St., Collinsville, IL
• May 11, 6:30 p.m., Galesburg Public Library, 40 E. Simmons St., Galesburg, IL
• May 17, 6:30 p.m., Decatur Public Library, 130 N. Franklin St., Decatur, IL
• May 18, 6:30 p.m., Jacksonville Public Library, 201 W. College Ave., Jacksonville, IL
• May 19, 6:00 p.m., Litchfield Carnegie Library, 400 N. State St., Litchfield, IL
• May 23, 6:30 p.m., Mattoon Public Library, 1600 Charleston Ave., Mattoon, IL
• May 24, 7 p.m., Champaign Library, 200 W. Green St., Champaign, IL
• May 25, 6:30 p.m., Danville Library, 319 N. Vermilion St., Danville, IL

RSVP to 1-877-655-6028 or info@powersmartpricing.org or sign up online at www.powersmartpricing.org/rsvp2011/.

Great Post from PSP Participant

Here's a quick link to a post by one of our participants on their own blog. It features a ton of really good information on energy savings tips and how to succeed on hourly pricing. Great stuff!

Although one tip on reducing vampire power around your tv is plug everything into a power strip except for the cable box. That way when you shut everything down for the night you won't lose all your channels. It's definitely more trouble than it's worth, but this you can still get some of the savings without the hassle.

http://midwestgreen.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/saving-money-on-electricity/

Industry Wondering If Customers Will Like Dynamic Pricing

Power Smart Pricing has been around since January 2007 and has accumulated over 11,000 customers. Year after year our participants have told us they find the program to be "quick and easy." Our high satisfaction rates should give confidence to other utilities to offer a similar program. However, throughout the country there is a large discrepancy in what industry leaders are saying about these types of programs.

A recent online panel discussion, hosted by Restructuring Today, highlighted the differences of opinion. While all the speakers agreed there was great potential in dynamic pricing, some felt that it was best to wait for "enabling technologies" to catch up and make it easier and more automated. Power Smart Pricing has enhanced its offering of online technologies to create easier access to prices, however the fundamental way of saving money on the program still rests in the hands of the participants (99% of which are saving money).

So the bottom line is that customers already love dynamic pricing. The need is to get it out to more customers and trust the existing programs that have shown great results.

For more coverage >> Why Consumers Will Love Dynamic Pricing - Katherine Tweed, GreenTechMedia

Refreshed Ameren ActOnEnergy.com

If you haven't been to Ameren Illinois' Act On Energy website now is as good a time as ever. They recently refreshed the site. It's easy to navigate and has a ton of great resources to get rebates and bill credits for participating in one of Ameren's energy efficiency programs. Check out this list below:

Get discounts on lighting


Save on ENERGY STAR products


Earn a rebate for your spare fridge


Cash in on HVAC incentives


Build and ENERGY STAR home


Improve home energy performance

If you're interested in learning more, go to ActOnEnergy.com to get all the details.

PSP Gets National Attention

We were at the Midwest Energy Solutions Conference talking about the great success our customers have had with Power Smart Pricing and the story got picked up by the national issues blog, Grist.

Overall, they did a good job of capturing the benefits of the program. The article was mostly focused on the amount PSP customers tend to lower their overall usage without mentioning the total the bill savings. Citing the "conservation effect" of using Day-Ahead hourly pricing is great, but it's even better when considering that those customers are saving an additional 16% (on average) on their bills.

The real moral of the story is that our customers are great. They are pioneers and truly leading a national effort for the availability of this kind of program for more and more utility customers. Well done!

Check out the story here:
http://www.grist.org/article/2011-01-14-whats-the-real-potential-for-behavior-change-programs

How to Get PSP on Your Phone

The PSP Blog has covered this a couple times in the past, but there have been some important updates as well as a bunch of requests on our customer survey for more access to prices through smartphone apps and text message.

Through Twitter.com
Twitter is a web service that allows users with an account to "tweet" messages of up to 140 characters. We have set up a program that automatically tweets the highest and lowest priced hours with their respective prices for the next day. This is a quick way to see what the prices will be like and which hours are best to avoid.

To get these messages on your phone you will have to sign up for a free Twitter account and set your preferences to receive our tweets through text messages (SMS) on your cellular phone. You will be able to get High Price Alerts and the Daily Price Report directly to your phone. If you have any questions on how to set this up please call us at 1-877-655-6028. (standard text message rates apply)

Through a Smartphone App
The Power Stoplight shows the current price of electricity as well as the upcoming hours. It also incorporates the very glanceable feature of a stop light that changes color based on the price. This program lets you check the prices at any time any where. It is a great tool and best of all, it's free. You can find the application in the Apple iTunes store for the iPhone or the Android Market for an Android powered phone. The Power Stoplight is also in development and available for testing on your Blackberry. To learn more, go to http://www.powerstoplight.com/