ComEd launches energy efficiency pilot program that compares customers' energy usage with neighbors'
CHICAGO, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ --
ComEd today announced that it is engaging residential customers in a new, innovative concept to achieve energy efficiency savings through neighbor-to-neighbor comparisons. The objective is to educate customers on their usage patterns and encourage those with higher usage to seek ways to achieve energy savings.
Beginning this week, 50,000 randomly selected residential customers across the ComEd service territory will receive "Home Electricity Reports" illustrating the customers' monthly energy usage and how they compare with similar households within the same geographic area.
"Combining behavioral science and customized energy efficiency tips, the Home Electricity Reports are intended to motivate customers to make smart choices to reduce consumption and to participate in ComEd's energy efficiency program," said Val Jensen, vice president, Marketing and Environmental Programs, ComEd. "We're providing customers with useful information and tools to allow them to be more energy efficient--whether they want to take an online home energy audit or just switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs."
The reports offer energy efficiency tips tailored to customers based on their type of home, such as the square footage and other housing characteristics. The program also offers an online component that allows participating customers to research more detailed information. Piloted customers also can view tips by popularity as determined by other pilot customers.
"We now have program results from our utility partners across the country, and in every case the story is the same - customers are empowered by the new information and take control of their energy consumption," said Alex Laskey, president and co-founder of Positive Energy. "Armed with the information provided to them on their Home Electricity Reports, we expect that ComEd customers too will make smarter choices about their energy use that lead to large savings."
In a recent, independent assessment of the program, American Council for Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has confirmed that similar programs in other metropolitan areas, such as Sacramento, Calif., are successfully achieving consistent average demand reduction.
The key findings of the research:
-- Overall impact of the program is estimated at 2.2 percent average
annual demand reduction, or approximately 250 kWh in annual savings
per home
-- Impact during peak summer months is even higher, estimated at 2.8
percent for monthly report recipients
-- Distribution of impact indicates significant demand reduction across
all households over all customer segments, demonstrating the broad
reach of the approach
ComEd is the ninth utility in the country, and currently managing the largest pilot of its kind, to test the impacts of this program on residential energy consumption.
Within a few years, ComEd's energy efficiency programs will place the company among the top tier of utilities in the nation in terms of electricity savings achieved through energy efficiency, positioning Illinois as a national leader
For instance, through its Smart Ideas(sm) programs, ComEd offers a variety of technical assistance, financial incentives, and information resources designed to help customers become more energy efficient. After the first program year, ComEd saved its customers more than $20 million. The second year began in June with nearly $80 million in funding--almost double the first program year.
All of ComEd's environmental initiatives, including the Home Electricity Report pilot program, are a component of Exelon 2020, a comprehensive environmental strategy to reduce, offset, or displace more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2020 among ComEd's parent, Exelon, its subsidiaries, and customers.
The communities involved in the pilot include: Algonquin, Barrington, Cary, Chicago, Crystal Lake, Des Plaines, Fox Lake, Glenview, Grayslake, Green Oaks, Highland Park, Joliet, Lake Forest, Lake Villa, Lincolnwood, Long Grove / Lake Zurich, New Lenox, Northbrook, Palatine, Park Ridge, Wauconda, Western Springs and Winnetka.
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC), one of the nation's largest electric utilities with approximately 5.4 million customers. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population.
DATASOURCE: ComEd
CONTACT: ComEd Media Relations, +1-312-394-3500
Web Site: http://www.exeloncorp.com/