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Energate, Inc. announced the results of two successful home energy management pilot projects undertaken in Oklahoma and Ontario, Canada. These projects are among more than 25 smart grid pilots across North America featuring Energate’s technologies. Energate’s home energy controls, portals and software solutions provide two-way communications that allow consumers and utilities to use new conservation tools.
In its pilot project with Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company (OG&E), Energate’s Pioneer™ Smart Thermostats enabled residential consumers to achieve a peak reduction of 1.92 kW per home representing an average maximum of over 50 percent, far surpassing the goal of 1.3 kW. In addition, the OG&E pilot accomplished these breakthrough results exclusively with pricing signals where consumers could choose to opt-in and select their level of participation. Price signals were delivered with high reliability to consumers, providing them with timely decision-making information.
Energate partnered with Silver Spring Networks and OG&E to roll out technology that allowed consumers to manage energy for optimal use with in-home devices and/or Internet portals to get pricing and usage information.
“Energate’s programmable thermostat enabled us to interact with our customers with price signals and notifications to effectively reduce their peak consumption,” said Mike Farrell, Director, Customer Programs, at OG&E. “For the first year of our customer study, the Energate thermostat has proven to be an important contributing factor for reduced peak demand, which represents a key goal for OG&E and other utilities and their customers everywhere.”
In the Ontario pilot, more than 99 percent of Energate’s on-line devices responded to load control signals, with verification of data collected and reporting in real-time, meeting the advanced criteria of the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) pilot.
Energate has also completed a six-month pilot project with the OPA to deploy its Consumer-Connected Demand Response (CCDR™) solution platform for residences in the Peterborough, Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge areas to control home energy use via the Internet while giving consumers access to smart meter data. The project used smart thermostats on air conditioning, load-control switches on water heaters and pool pumps, and energy displays paired with smart meters to share real-time data. A web-based portal enabled consumers to program thermostats remotely to manage home comfort and energy use.
“Our team has collaborated with progressive utilities from Oklahoma to Ontario to deliver industry-leading results,” said Niraj Bhargava, Energate Co-founder and CEO. “Our peak reduction achievements, combined with consumer-engagement and savings, have demonstrated what is possible with Energate solutions.”
