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.

NPR Series on the Smart Grid

NPR is in the middle of a 10 part series on the emerging smart grid. It has and will air on Morning Edition and All Things Considered from Monday April, 27th to Friday May, 1st.

The series will examine the many sides of the story. From the history of the grid and its current state, the need to lay more transmission lines, the environmental benefits, the role the utilities are playing, and the finally the economics of a smart grid.

To get started follow this link to Visualize the Grid. Its a great interactive map to see the scope of the some of the plans.

http://www.npr.org/news/graphics/2009/apr/electric-grid/

Continue on all week to the series overview page to find the most recent published stories. This link also gives you access to the accompanying article to each report.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103281114

Follow PSP Prices on Twitter

We have set automated messages to tweet each hour as the price for electricity changes. Use the button located on the sidebar to get to our new Twitter page. This will provide another way to get the information you need whenever you need it.

We also want to encourage all of our participants to use this new platform to discover new and innovative ways to use this service to its full potential.

Here is a little positive encouragement on the endless possibilities:
http://www.goodcleantech.com/2008/12/make_your_own_remote_lighting.php

Some interesting ways to get started on your own can be found here with their selection of widgets and other apps for your desktop, website, or your iphone/itouch. You can even use their API (Application Programming Interface) to create your own.

Walmart and Vatican Add Solar to Their Rooftops

Two different organizations announced they were adding more solar panels to their buildings on Earth Day: the Vatican and Walmart.

The Vatican is planning to build Europe's largest PV plant - a full 100 MW. This solar farm will be 740 acres and will produce roughly six times the amount of energy used in the small country of 108 acres. This will allow the Vatican to be a net energy exporter when the project is scheduled for completion in 2014.

German born Pope Benedict XVI has long been an advocate for the environment. In 2006 he said that "the destruction of the environment, its improper or selfish use, and the violent hoarding of the Earth’s resources cause grievances, conflicts and wars, precisely because they are the consequences of an inhumane concept of development." This past November a smaller solar farm became operational atop the Paulo VI Papal audience hall (shown above).

There is a reason Walmart was number one on the Fortune 500 for such a long time (Exxon Mobil recently surpassed the retail giant). Walmart has constantly pushed for better business practice. They are now using their strong purchasing power to make investments in their energy future.

Walmart is doubling the amount of solar power used at their stores. This may sound like a lot, but really they are increasing their distribution by 20 stores, up from 18. Do not let the Earth Day press release fool you, this is a smart business decision. Making a one time investment to lower their operating costs will continue to allow Walmart sell their goods at lower and lower prices.

Energy costs pile up without a significant return. They take capital and investment opportunities away from businesses and homeowners alike. Generating one's own electricity are steps toward a leaner operating budget. In business, it provides room for more jobs and cheaper goods, and in the home it lowers the cost of living. All the meanwhile, allows us to be better stewards of our fragile planet.

For more information on the Vatican's solar project.
For more information on Walmart's solar project.

Jay Nick Update and ecobee

Jay Nick has developed a couple of handy online tools for Power Smart Pricing. One of them is the "stoplight" tool featured at the top of the sidebar on the PSP Blog. He also developed a similar tool that mimics the Pricelight. The color of the orb changes depending on the price of electricity that hour. The tools can be embedded in a website (like this one) or it can be placed on your Google homepage.

He also developed a toolbar for Firefox web browsers. Once you download the software a bar showing the time/date and the price of electricity will automatically be displayed on your web browser. This is a very handy way to be able to see the prices all the time without having them in the way. For example, just a glance tells me that the price is currently 3.766 cents per kWh (current flat rate price: roughly 8 cents per kWh)

We recently had a conversation with him and he pointed us in the direction of a smart thermostat called ecobee. It takes advantage of a large display to make all its functions very user friendly. Like a traditional programmable thermostat you can set up a program to automatically manage your house's temperature.

It adds wifi so you can manage your household systems through a website. This would give you the added advantage of being able to change your program while you were away from the house. For customers with hourly electricity pricing this would be a nice feature to allow you to lower your cooling temperature during a higher priced time.

The next development with smart thermostats would be the ability to program the system to automatically respond to different price signals. For example, if the price for electricity is 6 cents and below keep the house at a particular temperature and so on. As variable pricing programs continue to emerge, so too will the tools. Many thanks to Jay Nick for advancing the ball.

http://www.jaynick.com

To his Firefox toolbars: http://www.jaynick.com/FirefoxAdd-ons.php
- Download the Ameren DAP toolbar to get price information directly into your Firefox web browser.

To the orb tool: http://www.jaynick.com/images/Ameren.svg

To the smart thermostat: www.ecobee.com