Thursday, October 8, 2009

National Grid launches behavior-based efficiency program

By Mass High Tech staff

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Utility National Grid has announced an energy-efficiency program in which 50,000 customers soon will be able to compare their energy usage with the usage of their neighbors as a group and neighbors who are considered energy efficient.

In its Thursday announcement, National Grid says that it is the first East Coast utility to use the Home Energy Report, which provides gas and electricity customers with information about their energy usage, in hope of contributing to a 3 percent overall reduction in energy use.

A comparative Home Energy Report, featuring graphics that display a customer’s use of electricity and natural gas and energy use by 100 anonymous neighbors in comparable homes, will be mailed to randomly selected Massachusetts customers this month. The bar chart will show comparable energy usage ratings for homes that are considered energy efficient, while other elements of the report indicate whether the customer is doing a good job in certain aspects of energy efficiency. The Home Energy Report uses reporting technology provided by Virginia-based OPower.

The Home Energy Report is a tailored, in-home energy usage evaluation and comparison that also offers personalized energy-saving tips to maximize energy savings. According to National Grid, an individual electricity customer could save 260 kilowatt-hours a year through behavioral changes, including implementation of tips offered in the report. Savings for gas customers could be 18 therms per year, the company said.

The 50,000 customers receiving the reports through the year-long pilot program will be able to opt out of the program after the first mailing and also will be able to use a National Grid website to further analyze their energy usage.

Customers in 96 Massachusetts towns and neighborhoods, primarily in the eastern and central portions of the state, will be invited to participate in the pilot project.