OhmConnect, a provider of residential energy flexibility, supported the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) Flex Alerts during the recent heat wave by incentivizing reduced home energy usage from Wednesday, August 31 to Thursday, September 8.
OhmConnect’s members received over $2.7 million in rewards and saved 1.5 GigaWatt hours (GWh) of energy, the equivalent of taking 1 million homes off the grid for an hour, in nine days.
OhmConnect helps balance California’s electric grid during peak demand by paying its 200,000 members to reduce their home energy use when the grid is stressed. Members receive text and email alerts indicating when to power down in order to save electricity, and if they use less energy than forecasted, they earn rewards and save on their monthly utility bills.
OhmConnect, a free program, sent 6 million communications to its members during the nine-day heat wave; and toggled members’ smart energy devices (such as smart thermostats and smart plugs) off and on 1.3 million times.
OhmConnect members authorize OhmConnect to turn their smart devices off and on remotely, while retaining the ability to override and control their devices at all times. OhmConnect also awarded its members gift cards during the heat wave that can be redeemed for 30,140 buckets of popcorn, 17,349 tubs of ice cream; and 22,570 mocha lattes.
On September 6th, air conditioning needs pushed statewide electricity demand to a record-high 52 Gigawatts, threatening to cause rolling power outages. In response to CAISO’s September 6th emergency alert, OhmConnect members delivered 374 MWh of reductions – equivalent to the output of three power plants.
Customers of utility providers such as PG&E, Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) are eligible to participate in California.