Instant Rebates on Appliances in IL

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (commonly known as the "stimulus"), the US Department of Energy has provided the State of Illinois $12,379,000 for a Cash for Appliances program. The money is available as an instant rebate for ENERGY STAR rated appliances from participating vendors for:

• Refrigerators
• Freezers
• Clothes washers
• Dishwashers
• Room air conditioners
• Gas storage water heaters
• Gas tankless water heaters
• Heat pump water heaters
• Gas and propane furnaces
• Gas boilers
• Central air conditioners
• Air source heat pumps

It's hard to imagine a vendor not participating in this offer because their customers will receive a discount with the US Government footing the rest of the bill. You can also receive an additional mail-in rebate with proof that your old appliance was hauled away when the new one was delivered.

The first phase of the program began on January 31 and is available for for water heaters and heating and ventilation products. The second phase will launch around Earth Day and will last until there's money left.

For more information on qualifying appliances, click here (pdf).

Free E-Smart Thermostat Coverage is Expanding

There has been tremendous interest among Power Smart Pricing customers for the free E-Smart Thermostat. For more information you can find our previous post here. The rollout of the new device has not quite matched the demand, but we recently received word that Ameren is widely expanding the eligible customer geography to the following zip codes:

Peoria - 61525, 61615, 61614, 61528, 61523, 61548, 61571, 61550, 61603, 61604, 61554, 61568, 61535, 61606, 61536, 61547, 61607, 61568, 61616, 61611, 61564, 61539, 61552

Champaign -  61815, 61853, 61878, 61873, 61802, 61821, 61820, 61801, 61874, 61880, 61822, 61875, 61884, 61856, 61830, 61855, 62501, 62554, 61818, 62535, 62501, 62573, 62521, 62526, 62521, 62522, 62537, 62551, 62514, 62532, 61925, 62549


Bloomington -   61701, 61702, 61704, 61705, 61761, 61772, 61736, 61732, 61745, 61748, 61776, 61725






Metro East -  62001, 62002, 62010, 62012, 62024, 62025, 62034, 62035, 62040, 62046, 62049, 62059, 62060, 62062, 62087, 62088, 62095, 62201, 62202, 62203, 62205, 62206, 62207, 62208, ,62214, 62215, 62216, 62218, 62219, 62220, 62221, 62222, 62223, 62225, 62226, 62230, 62231, ,62232, 62234, 62236, 62239, 62240, 62242, 62243, 62244, 62245, 62248, 62249, 62254, 62255, ,62256, 62257, 62258, 62260, 62262, 62263, 62264, 62265, 62269, 62275, 62277, 62278, 62279, ,62281, 62282, 62285, 62289, 62293, 62294, 62295, 62298

Please keep in mind that the rollout of this device has to do with ensuring that the technology receives the pager signal required for the thermostat to work properly.

Historical Price Annual Update

On our website we keep track of the average Day Ahead hourly price broken out by month, quarter (3 months) and year. If you haven't had a chance, take a look at Day Ahead vs Standard Prices for the breakdown. It is important to note, that this type of detail weighs each hour equally, but clearly when it comes to managing your electricity usage 4pm is more important than 4am.

The first 3 years of Power Smart Pricing has given us a great amount of data to examine. If we look first at the annual average, you can clearly see how significantly low the prices were in 2009. At 2.682 cents per kWh the average is far lower than 2008's 4.744 and 2007's 4.428.  A down economy for the first half of the year dropped Commercial and Industrial demand for electricity, a cool Midwest summer lowered Residential demand and no major service or storm related damage all factored in keeping prices low.

Representing a first in the history of Power Smart Pricing we did not send a single High Price Alert (an alert sent out when at least one hour during the following day is higher than 13 cents per kWh). In fact, many of you called in thinking something might have been wrong and that you were missing them. Well, once we reassured our callers that everything was in order they were more than happy to hear about the low prices. The highest single hour price was only 7.993 cents (3pm-4pm on June 24). There were also only 5 hours all year over 7 cents. 

A month by month breakdown shows which months had the highest impact on the low 2009 prices. While each month in 2009 had a lower average than its 2008 counterpart, the summer months represented the most significant drops. For example, July 2009 was more than 4 cents lower than July 2008.

We can safely assume that we won't see a year like 2009 again (in many ways...). From our small sample of 2010 prices, it looks to be closer to 2009 than 2008, but only time will tell. So before we get ahead of ourselves, let's be thankful for some low prices and big savings in 2009.  Whether you realize it or not, your success is expanding the opportunity for other communities around the country to take advantage of real-time electricity pricing. Great work by all!

CES 2010 Reveals Ripe Competition

Alright here it is.. after some logistical juggling and tricky air travel in the middle of the winter, the post heard round the world has finally arrived.

Everything about the show in insanely large. The booth displays, the televisions, and of foremost importance the competition. Aside from the large companies vying for the most extravagance booth, the show was stuffed to the brim with smaller businesses looking to make a few magical first impressions.

One place where that competition was brewing from all angles with everyone looking over their shoulder was the field of home energy management. Everything was up for grabs. The meters, the displays, the accessories, and even the communication technology to integrate all the madness. Unfortunately some of these ventures will fall flat because their devices will be based on a communication system that will end up going extinct (think vcr vs betamax or the contemporary version - Bluray vs HD-DVD).


Bulogics - http://www.bulogics.com/index.html
One of the companies, Bulogics is taking no chances. Their devices are based on a communication standard called Z-wave that is in direct competition with the much more successful to date, Zigbee. However in their latest iteration, they have added a simple functionality update to be able to work with all the possible outcomes (Z-wave, Zigbee, or WiFi). Bulogics has developed a Smart Grid Controller that can send and receive signals from a customers' smart meter. If the price electricity goes up, the customer can use a Bulogics surge protector to manage specific home electronics automatically. You would also be able to control your air conditioner over the internet and change the temperature based on different price points that you choose. In the end, a utility customer with a smart meter and dynamic rates like Power Smart Pricing can see energy cost savings automatically. No more checking the prices and scrambling around the house.

4Home Energy - http://www.4home.com/
Aside from the actual equipment and communication standards, companies are competing in the area of software. Just like Power Smart Pricing's new Bill Comparison Tool, utilities are looking for ways to take all this new information and communicate it effectively to their customers. 4Home Energy has developed software that is designed to be "plug and play" for utilities' new expansion of a smart meter system. From the brief demo, it is clear that they have managed to incorporate a lot of the important aspects of managing your home energy usage. You would be able to control your HVAC equipment, your lights, and your larger appliances over the internet or through an in-home display.

So what does all this mean? Things are in good shape. Healthy competition will ensure that the best will eventually make its way to the top. In the meantime, hurdles will have to be crossed to bring this emerging field to fruition. For starters, every company is somewhat waiting and watching for the continued expansion of smart meters in residences.

The so called silver bullet, the necessary component to all this is quite clear... these companies need customers with dynamic pricing. The traditional flat rate would stifle extended innovation. Customers want more for less while the flat rate's offer of less for less leave these competitors racing without a spur.

CES Countdown is On!

Tomorrow the PSP Blog is leaving its comfortable surroundings in Illinois and trading snow and cold for the desert winds of Las Vegas for CES 2010.  Be prepared for an all day onslaught of TMI (Too Much Information). The plan is to not get too sidetracked by oversized televisions, touchscreens, and crazy robots.

There should be reports on new home management displays, batteries, and perhaps an energy efficient television or two... So don't stray too far.

After the weekend, the PSP Blog will post a wrap up featuring the grand themes and schemes headed our way. The blog will weigh in on any success real-time pricing programs like Power Smart Pricing have had on the collective minds of our future innovators.

If you have any requests or specific questions that you are seeking answers for, leave a comment and the PSP Blog will do its best to answer it.