New PSP Pricing Gadgets

We have been approached a couple times over the past few weeks from developers of new electricity pricing gadgets compatible with Power Smart Pricing. Hopefully one of the options will match what your eye is looking for and make it easy for you to get the information you want.

Power Stoplight

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. You can also find the application in the Apple iTunes store for the iPhone which adds the bonus of checking the prices on the go!! The Power Stoplight is also in development to be available on your Blackberry. To learn more, go to http://www.powerstoplight.com/

Power Smart Pricing Monitor
The Power Smart Pricing Monitor is made specifically for Power Smart Pricing. This application runs on the desktop of compatible Windows computers. It shows the current price of electricity with a background color that indicates if the price is low, moderate or high. It also displays a message about the hour with the highest price as well as when the price will come back down. This is a great tool to find the cheapest time to do some of your electricity demanding chores. To download this program to learn more go to http://sites.google.com/site/radioetcetera/home/power-smart-pricing-monitor

These two programs are a great example of the passion of the participants for Power Smart Pricing. It also shows what happens when creativity meets new opportunities. We are very proud of our customers and all we ask is keep saving and keep up the good work!

Calling on Developers

Keeping track of your home's energy usage is something all Power Smart Pricing customers understand the value in. Lowering your consumption as the price goes up provides a unique money saving opportunity. A lot of big companies see the demand for this type of information on the horizon. In preparation, the software giants of the day, Microsoft and Google are making sure they're prepared.

Microsoft's Hohm and Google's PowerMeter represent two exciting entrants into energy management software. Over a period of a couple weeks both companies opened their programs to a trusted group of software developers to create applications and enhance their energy saving techniques.

It will take a long series of trial and error to really measure the effectiveness of these devices. In fact, the it is almost entirely up in the air as to where this software will be used. Ultimately the industry is getting flushed with tons of new data and this new data represents another way to make money (and save money for the consumer... for a price).

To learn more about Microsoft and Google's recent announcements, click 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...

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.

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.

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?

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

Worldwide Electricity Demand Predicited to Fall

The International Energy Agency (IEA) this week at a Group of 8 (G8) Energy Ministers’ Meeting in Rome announced its projections that world energy demand would fall by 3.5% in 2009. This marks the first time since 1945, that worldwide electricity demand will be lower than the previous year. Experts attribute this drop to the global recession that has significantly cut manufacturing demand as most of the drop is predicted to occur within the industrial sector.

When considering all the energy related events in the past 65 years, its still quite astounding. Perhaps this is the surest sign that the global economy has become more integrated than ever. Any subsequent economic recovery should parallel a rise in energy demand. For now the lower prices will aide that recovery with lower operating expenses for worldwide industry.

Power Smart Pricing participants have been able to see this trend with lower wholesale market prices for electricity. Unseasonably cool summer temperatures in the upper Midwest along with lower worldwide demand have attributed to lower than normal electricity prices throughout the first half of 2009.

As CNT Energy has carefully examined, Power Smart Pricing participants respond with lower electricity usage when prices rise. So as demand is lower, prices follow, but it should result in more usage, which will help the global recovery. When the price is not directly tied to demand, customers will continue to limit their usage as the price of energy rises as compared to the money coming in. The balance found within a functioning electricity market proves the value of real time pricing.

Comed to Conduct 141,000 Smart Meter Pilot

Comed filed a petition with the Illinois Commerce Commission to begin work on a 141,000 AMI smart meter pilot program within its Chicagoland service area.

ComEd proposes to install approximately 100,000 meters in a demographicallyvaried, yet operationally manageable, footprint that includes nine towns in its Maywood operating area: Bellwood, Berwyn, Broadview, Forest Park, Hillside, Maywood, Melrose Park, Oak Park, and River Forest. ComEd proposes to install approximately 30,000 AMI meters within the City of Chicago and approximately 10,000 in the City of Elgin.

The pilot will be designed to demonstrate the effect smart meters have on consumers. The goal will be to determine what set circumstances will lead to the greatest energy and cost savings. The results of this year long pilot will help the utility design a possible future deployment of AMI technology to the rest of their 3.1 million consumers.

Other smart meter pilot programs have found that a key contributor to maximizing cost savings is dynamic pricing. Like Power Smart Pricing, this gives consumers a financial incentive to shift their usage. The results of this pilot will certainly be influential around the rest of the state as well as the nation.

More from Earth2Tech on the AMI pilot.

Google Announces Initial PowerMeter Partners

Google has announced its first PowerMeter partners. They have found 8 utilities representing over 10 million customers from 3 countries and 6 different US states. The utilities will offer Google PowerMeter to their customers. This will allow them to access detailed information on their home energy use through a web portal.

Here are the partners:

- San Diego Gas & Electric® (California)
- TXU Energy (Texas)
- JEA (Florida)
- Reliance Energy (India)
- Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (Wisconsin)
- White River Valley Electric Cooperative (Missouri)
- Toronto Hydro–Electric System Limited (Canada)
- Glasgow EPB (Kentucky)
- Itron (Integration partner)

The Google PowerMeter will assist customers in saving energy and money. Being able to see accurate and current information about their usage will enable customers with the knowledge of how and when to conserve their energy. Google throwing its name into the hat of software developers looking to advance the availability of energy information will certainly help push the limit into what is possible.

Whirpool to Make all "Smart" Appliances by 2015

Today Whirlpool announced that all of its appliances will be able to respond to smart grid signals by 2015. Customers on a real time pricing program can instantly see the benefit for a more integrated household system. Instead of eking out the lowest priced hour yourself, your appliances will be able to do that automatically.

Whirlpool also indicated some of the hurdles and logistical roadblocks that will need to be navigated before this will be possible. Bracken Darrell, president of Whirlpool Europe, and executive vice president of Whirlpool Corporation found two key public-private developments that needed to be addressed:

-- The development by the end of 2010 of an open, global standard for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from a home appliance

-- Appropriate policies that reward consumers, manufacturers and utilities for using and adding these new peak demand reduction capabilities.

This is why, according to Darrell, Whirpool is "going to invite the appliance industry, the utility industry, policymakers, NGOs, and relevant technology companies to come together at the upcoming Copenhagen climate change conference to discuss how we can accelerate the adoption of these new capabilities."

Now you just need all of those people to agree...

Illinois RTP Makes NYT

Can I put more acronyms in the title??? Maybe.

The New York Times (NYT) published an article today about the coming "smart grid" pilot to the Chicagoland area and their utility Commonwealth Edison. The story starts with a quick synopsis of how one customer is saving money with real time pricing (RTP).

Here's an excerpt of one interesting passage on "dumb" pricing (their term not mine):

“It’s like if you walked into the supermarket and everything was priced the same, and you could take as much or as little as you wanted, swipe a card at the cashier, walk out, and six weeks later they’d send you a bill,” said Mr. Butler, who is also commissioner of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. “It gives you no data on how much things cost, how much you’re using and how you can switch from one thing to another.”

Overall, this is a great piece about the benefits of real time pricing. It even touches on the ongoing efforts of Illinois residents. The work being done by these customers is getting noticed, and you should be proud of the standard you are setting to hopefully give this option to more families that can benefit.

Check out the article here.