Dive Brief:
- A small National Grid demand response pilot helped 1,000 customers reduce peak usage by 20%, the utility's technology provider announced this morning.
- CEIVA Energy provided technology for National Grid's Peak Events program, including direct load control devices, smart plugs and intelligent thermostats.
- Of 11,000 Worcester, Mass., residents participating in National Grid's Smart Energy Solutions program, about 1,000 opted to enroll in one of the utility's in-home technology options.
Dive Insight:
National Grid's Smart Energy Solutions program has revealed the results of a small demand response program, but the results are large — a 20% reduction in peak usage, returned by opt-in customers utilizing a no-cost in-home energy kit.
“CEIVA has always focused on building technology that helps consumers save and utilities thrive,” said CEO Dean Schiller. “We’re thrilled to work with National Grid to bring innovative technology to the market and start building the utility infrastructure of tomorrow.”
The pilot reflects a resurgence in home energy management, as customers take more control via integrated systems.
The Smart Energy Solutions program launched in January and deployed CEIVA’s Entryway, "a demand response management system that allows utilities to dynamically manage the demand response program and cost-effectively align demand with supply," according to the company. Using Entryway, National Grid can segment customers, monitor and control a range of smart energy technologies and access full reporting and analytics.
The “energy kit” supplied by National Grid as part of the program includes no-cost, in-home technology options that include s include digital picture frames, smart thermostats, direct load control devices and smart plugs. It also offers customers CEIVA Energy’s Homeview engagement product to collect detailed energy data directly from smart meters and present it to customers in a mobile app, website and the digital picture frame.
