participation by giving homeowners the latest tools to easily balance comfort, convenience and cost. It also merges demand response and energy-efficiency programmes for utilities – traditionally separate activities – to streamline deployment and management, and boost overall results. Tis is the first technology to provide utilities with both auditable peak and permanent load reduction. According to a 2012 E Source survey of more than half of the demand response programmes in the USA, the average participation rate for residential customers is 13 per cent. Honeywell and Opower expect the new platform to drive rates to at least 20 per cent, a more than 50 per cent increase, due to consumer-friendly features such as mobile access to energy information and control. Tis would provide an additional 220 MW of peak shed capacity just to the utilities surveyed, equivalent to the output of more than four gas-fired peaking plants. In addition, the platform uses proven measurement techniques to deliver ongoing, verifiable energy savings every day – savings widely accepted by regulatory agencies, which utilities can count toward their annual efficiency goals.


Utility management software Te Energy Management Platform combines Honeywell’s best-selling Wi-Fi thermostat and Akuacom utility management software with Opower’s interactive, cloud-based application to give homeowners the ability to view and adjust energy use from anywhere via smartphone or the Web. Te app offers tips and coaching to help increase efficiency and deliver long-term savings. Honeywell and Opower are currently testing the platform in a trial with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), one of the largest utilities in the USA, serving customers in northern and central California. As part of the trial, Honeywell and Opower are recruiting participants and installing more than 500 free thermostats to validate energy savings. Te goal is to gauge customer acceptance of and experience with the technology. Te programme is also intended to confirm the savings that are realistic for customers in PG&E’s diverse service area against the hypothesis that the thermostat and app will help save up to five per cent of whole-house electricity and gas use. Te trial will conclude in the first quarter of 2014, but PG&E has garnered initial findings, which were published in a recent report. So far, customers find the technology accessible and intuitive, and use it to actively manage comfort and consumption. “As separate efforts, demand response and efficiency


programmes can offer significant benefits to utilities and customers, but it’s typically been hard to measure and verify their effectiveness,” said Alex Kinnier, senior vice president of product management at Opower. “By combining these efforts and providing a way to help utilities generate real, measurable savings, we’ve created a new, more cost-effective and capable model.” ●


For more information ✔ at www.engineerlive.com/ipe


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