November 15
PSE Maximizes Consumer Participation in Rates Pilot
Top consumer smart energy news hand-selected and brought to you by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Member News
Uplight and GridX announced the successful completion of the first year of Puget Sound Energy’s (PSE) time-varying rates pilot. The pilot, which saw 94 percent of enrolled participants take action to reduce energy usage during the winter season on-peak periods, leveraged Uplight’s comprehensive Rates Engagement solution and GridX’s industry-leading Enterprise Rate Platform.
Hurricane Helene heavily impacted ElectriCities member communities in western North Carolina and South Carolina and in the wake of the destruction, other ElectriCities members across North Carolina rose to the occasion and traveled to hard-hit areas to get the power back on. ElectriCities is the membership organization that provides power supply and related critical services to over 90 community-owned electric systems in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
NRG Energy announced it is partnering with Renew Home, a virtual power plant (VPP) company, to upgrade its residential VPP capabilities with the aim to distribute hundreds of thousands of VPP-enabled smart thermostats by 2035 and create a nearly 1-GW AI-powered VPP – enabled by Google Cloud technology. NRG and Renew Home expect to roll out their VPP program to Texas customers in the spring of 2025.
Installing heat pumps in Texas homes that currently use central air conditioners and electric resistance heating systems would on average save them each more than $300 in utility bills annually, according to estimates in a white paper published this month by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
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Industry News
A significant shift is underway in the electric-car segment. No, I’m not talking about the shift to EVs. That’s still progressing despite a few manufacturers getting cold feet. What I’m referring to here is a subtle change in the makeup of EV batteries that carries some significant implications. A type of lithium-ion battery called lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, is becoming increasingly prevalent in EVs.
Entergy New Orleans, which provides electricity to roughly 208,000 customers and natural gas to about 109,000 customers, says its energy efficiency programs are effectively helping reduce energy-related financial burdens for residents and contributing to climate resilience. In the company’s service area, the hot, humid climate demands energy-intensive cooling.
Reading Municipal Light Department (RMLD) recently introduced Connected Homes, an innovative residential demand response program that allows residential customers to better manage Wi-Fi-connected devices in their homes while reducing their carbon footprint. The program is part of RMLD’s Shred the Peak demand response and load reduction initiative.
Itron and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) are collaborating on a customer-focused pilot to develop and test an EV charging solution that manages charging loads in real-time with grid-edge computing. The goal of the pilot is to lower the barrier for customers to charge their EV at home by avoiding the need for costly customer electric panel and service upgrades.
