Campaigns like Delmarva Power’s “Take Control” can succeed in getting utility customers to shift electrical usage away from peak periods, Delmarva spokesman Bridget Shelton said.
For an example, she said, “you don’t have to look too far,” and she pointed to Kent and Sussex counties, and the “Beat the Peak” initiative set up by the Delaware Electric Cooperative.
Launched in 2008, the voluntary program has grown to include participation by nearly one-half of the co-op’s roughly 83,000 residential members, said Rob Book, assistant vice president for member service and manager of government and community relations.
It has been so effective, co-op President and CEO Bill Andrew said, that more than 90 utilities have adopted at least parts of the program for their own use.
Unlike Delmarva’s program, there’s no need to set up an online account or input any of your energy-use habits into the utility’s computer system.
Rather, the key component to “Beat the Peak” is a plug-in device called an “In-Home Indicator.”
[caption id="attachment_15651" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Delaware Electric Cooperative’s Beat the Peak initiative uses a meter that “looks like a stop light” to warn consumers of peak energy consumption hours. So far, about half of the co-op’s members use them."]
“It looks like a stop light,” Book said, and it works in pretty much the same way.
Most of the time, the light is green, meaning “everything is good,” he said. When the yellow light goes on, “it means that within one hour we can see peak usage coming,” he said.
When the signal turns red, it’s time to “beat the peak” — turn up the temperature setting on the air conditioner, forget about using the dishwasher, turn off major appliances and dim the lights.
The system works well, Book said, pointing to the afternoon of July 22, when temperatures hit 104 degrees outside the co-op’s offices in Greenwood. “We saw a ‘Beat the Peak’ coming at 3 p.m., sent out the alert, and saw a flat line right away” on the gauges that measure power consumption, he said.
The savings can be significant when buying power off the electric grid at peak periods, Book said. In normal conditions, like a 76-degree morning this week, the co-op might be paying 4.35 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity on the spot market, he said. When the mercury tops 100, the price can hit a dollar per kilowatt hour, he added.
Beat the Peak started in 2008 as a combination television, radio and email marketing campaign, Andrew said. The $2 million invested in marketing has generated more than $14 million in savings, including $10 million in 2010 alone, Andrew said.
And, Book added, the co-op’s electric rates are running 28 to 32 percent below the average for Delaware’s other utilities.
Since the co-op’s members are its owners, Andrew added, the savings realized by shifting usage patterns all go back into members’ pockets.
The indicators cost about $50 each, but the co-op provides them free to its members, Andrews said. As a further incentive, anyone using the indicator also gets a three-pack of energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs.
In addition to having the “In-Home Indicator” plugged in at some 41,000 residences, the co-op uses emails to notify 43,000 members (including many of those with the indicators) of “Beat the Peak” status updates. Coming in September: a “Beat the Peak” app for use on smart phones.