Palm Desert Partnership Energy Management System Pilot Program
The Palm Desert Partnership Energy Management System Pilot Program is intended to allow you to take greater control over your residence or small business energy usage - any time and any where - via your broadband internet access or your cell phone. This wireless system will allow you to monitor your major equipment’s energy usage and take action accordingly on a real time basis. There are studies which indicate that a customer with detailed, real time information, and the ability to act on that information, will alter his/her energy usage practices in the home or business enough to reduce consumption 10% - 20%. This free pilot program will constitute a more detailed study to allow us to determine just how much savings are likely in the Palm Desert community among customers who have and use an Energy Management System (EMS).We are looking for 60 residences to participate in this free, no obligation, pilot program. Once you are set up, you will be able to:
- Monitor your major electrical equipments' energy usage anytime, anywhere
- Make decisions and implement them real time - turn your equipment on or off via internet or cell phone service.
- See the results of your decisions and practices in $$ and cents.
- Apply your own creativity in your energy usage practices by employing a monitoring device on equipment of your own choosing.
- Save on your electric bill up to 20% or more, depending on your specific energy practices. (This is not a guarantee of the pilot program, but an expectation, which we hope to validate)
Why is the Palm Desert Partnership conducting this?
One of the reasons for the California Public Utilities Commission providing funding and authorization for this partnership was for us to conduct new ventures in energy efficiency. We believe that an EMS has the potential to become a standard service via the internet, and that it may serve to help us all save energy and become much smarter in our daily practices. If there is indeed on the order of 10% - 20% energy savings to be realized by means of an EMS, we want to develop this tool to its fullest potential.What are the requirements?
For residences:- Lives in a single family dwelling with a swimming pool
- Has at least one central air conditioning system. The pilot program will seek mostly residences with multiple air conditioning systems and/or are two-story dwellings.
- Has been at this same address for at least 12 months with no plans of moving in the near future.
- Is a year round resident of Palm Desert - no seasonal residents
- Currently has broadband internet service (DSL, Cable, or fiberoptic)
- Currently has cell phone service with text messaging capability
- Monthly utility bills are greater than $250
- Willing to sign a participation agreement which includes provisions for mutual protection of confidential information, limitation of liability, and rules of conduct during the trial period
- Is a customer of Southern California Edison and the residence is in Palm Desert
Is this a free service?
Yes. There is no cost to you. The pilot is designed to run for six months. At the conclusion of the six months, you may chose to continue with the service provider at a standard monthly charge or you may have him remove the monitoring equipment from your premises at no cost to you.What is the deadline for volunteering for this pilot?
We hope to have all of the prospective candidates identified by July 31st, 2008. If you meet the requirements stated above and are interested in volunteering, please do so using the instructions at the end of this document. We will call you for more information, look at your usage data, and then let you know if you have been selected for this pilot. We hope to have this completed by the end of July.
How does this Energy Management System work?
Your major end-uses of energy in your home are your air conditioner and pool pump. These two systems will be hooked up for monitoring. You will also be given an additional plug-in monitor, so that you can collect data on any additional piece of equipment in your home.
For instance, during the first month of the trial, you may want to monitor your refrigerator so see just what it is costing you. You may then want to monitor, the following month, the energy hog refrigerator that you keep in the garage and see how much more that is costing you. You can be creative with this wildcard monitor device, placing it on whatever equipment you may want - your entertainment center, or anything that takes a standard plug. For your swimming pool and central air conditioner(s), a qualified electrician will come out to your home and hook these up.
Once installed, the monitors send a signal to your wireless router once every 5 seconds, 24/7, providing information on how much energy the equipment is using. This information goes to a central processing website to which you have internet access. Your home or business energy usage is attractively displayed on your computer screen. You have access to this website at home or work or wherever you have internet access. You can also turn your equipment on or off remotely via internet or cell phone. You can also adjust the temperature settings of your central air conditioning units.
Who is operating the system?
American Grid, Inc. offers this system and is under contract to Southern California Edison. They will have a call center in operation to answer your questions.
Who will do the installations?
American Grid will conduct the installations. They will coordinate a date/time that is mutually agreeable and should have their work done within 30 minutes of arrival at your premises.
What else is a part of this program?
Your creativity. We want to know from you how you used this system's capabilities in ways we may not have envisioned, and we want to share them with others. Our goal is to get the maximum use out of this completely new capability. If it can help save on the order of 10% to 20%, this is a level of savings that should not be ignored. We should develop it to its fullest extent and contribute to making it standard practice throughout California.
We will be conducting surveys from time to time, and will ask that you participate.
How do I sign up?
Fill in the form on the next page and send us your name and address. Let us know whether this is a residence or a business. We will contact you for more information.
If I sign up, will I be a part of the free trial?
Not necessarily. We are limiting this pilot to 60 residences. We will want to verify that you meet all of the requirements, and that your particular residence or business will enable us to obtain the greatest amount of information in this six month timeframe.
