Sense announced that its home energy monitoring technology will be part of a new program to assess the impacts of real-time energy insights on energy efficiency and demand response for Wisconsin customers. Developed in collaboration with strategic consultancy Cadmus, the program uses the Sense Home Energy Monitor to help customers understand their energy usage in more detail via the Sense mobile app. This technology is currently being used as part of a study in 400 Alliant Energy – Wisconsin households.
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The program recently received approval from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW). Alliant Energy will begin to study demand response with a new group of 500 high-use Wisconsin households starting early next month, while continuing its energy efficiency evaluation of the 400 households that enrolled earlier.
The next phase of the pilot will help Alliant Energy assess how communicating with customers in real-time about power grid constraints can produce a demand reduction in addition to saving energy. Customers will be able to use Sense’s innovative technology to respond by shifting their highest home energy uses to off-peak times. This real-time customer response could help Alliant Energy operate its part of the power grid more efficiently and economically.
The pilot will also examine new uses of Sense such as air conditioner fault detection, smart plug integration, and electric vehicle charging behavior.
Innovative home energy technology is key
Unlike other approaches that cannot report real-time data, the Sense home intelligence app gives customers a live view of what’s on in the home. This helps customers identify appliances and devices that are using too much energy and can be updated or replaced, or their use shifted to different times during demand response events. This real-time, personalized, mobile app-based interaction increases customer engagement.
“Consumers play an important role in reducing energy usage as the grid transitions to renewables to address climate change impacts,” said Sense Vice President of Energy Services Colin Gibbs. “Alliant Energy is providing its customers with the kinds of smart home insights that can lead to significantly better results for energy efficiency while also offering benefits for demand response programs.”