We told you earlier this month about retail HAN devices with Zigbee moving into Southern California in a partnership between Southern California Edison and Rainforest Automation. In October we hosted a webinar with experts from Reliant Energy and Tendril on encouraging customer engagement with in-home displays. We also featured a report last month from IDC Energy Insights that confirmed our thinking that the home energy management market was finally seeing some traction.

Now we've come across even more developments we thought you should know about.

NV Energy moves from EcoFactor pilot to mass deployment

After a pilot in the Las Vegas metro area that produced encouraging results, NV Energy has begun a mass deployment of EcoFactor's home energy management services under NVE's mPowered brand.

The partnership calls for EcoFactor to deliver double-digit energy savings to consumers, and a minimum of 20 megawatts of load reduction in the Las Vegas market during the first phase of deployment. And there's reason to think that's achievable. Results during the pilot showed the EcoFactor service simultaneously:

·         Saved an average of 13% in customer cooling costs during Nevada summers that frequently run up to 104 degrees

·         Delivered an average demand response load reduction of more than 3KW per home; 25% higher than the load reductions NVE achieved using other approaches.

So how does it work? As EcoFactor explains it in a press release, the cloud-based service analyzes a home’s specific heating and cooling system information, thermostat settings, personal preferences, indoor temperatures, local weather conditions and several other behavioral factors. Using an Internet-enabled thermostat, it continually learns and adapts to these factors, automatically making small adjustments to thermostat settings throughout the day to reduce energy consumption and shift energy use without compromising comfort. At the same time, it helps utilities more effectively manage demand-side impact on the grid.

Rockwood Electric Utility puts Consert technology to the test

As one of several distributors selected by the Tennessee Valley Authority to participate in a direct load control project for peak load reduction, Rockwood Electric Utility (REU) ran a demonstration test event on an 83-degree day in September. The test included 75 residential pilot participants utilizing Consert’s Virtual Peak Plant technology.

Results showed an average peak load reduction of 2.0 kW per participant – achieved by managing air conditioners, water heaters and pool pumps.

“We found the results to be very positive,” said REU general manager Kendall Bear, “and expect Consert’s technology to reduce wholesale power costs from TVA, and ultimately help our customers reduce their energy bill.”

Consert's load management solution is based on real-time, wireless technology that allows participants to conserve energy using a web-based, home area network. According to a Consert press release, REU will deploy its solution on 1,100-1,300 residential and light commercial installations next year, representing approximately 10 percent of its customers.