Originally published at ilsr.org. Dear Santa, We’ve been very good this year and, if it isn’t too much trouble, we’d like a few things in 2018, let us know!
Bad Federal Policies
The most accurate characterization for federal clean energy initiatives in 2017 is “filling the swamp.” Proposals include reducing federal incentives for wind power and providing subsidies for aging and expensive centralized, coal and nuclear power plants. A version of the tax bill would also eliminate tax credits for electric vehicles. All three policy changes would result in higher energy costs in the short and long term, result in much greater pollution, and slow efforts by many communities to transition to clean, local power.
Expand Inclusive Energy Financing
Inclusive financing means any utility customer that takes action to reduce their energy use can tap utility-provided capital, and pay back the cost through their utility bill. It means poor credit doesn’t have to be a barrier to clean energy savings. Several utilities already offer zero-down, all-credit access to energy savings and we hope it expands in 2018.
Encourage Local Action
Cities can take charge of their energy future by taking over the utility, seizing responsibility for electricity purchasing, or expanding solar and electric vehicles. We provide more detail of city-level actions in our Community Power Toolkit.
Happy Holidays!
Tendril energy management platform reduced utilities’ HVAC load 85% in summer
- Tendril yesterday released the results of the summer rollout of its Orchestrated Energy platform, showing it had reduced utility HVAC load by 85% during demand response events in addition to other savings.
- Tendril says its platform calculates a home’s thermal mass, predicts consumer behavior and integrates with connected devices, to create a “unique dispatch schedule for every home, every day.”
- Tendril rolled out the platform in 15 states, including the territories of AEP’s Indiana Michigan Power and Xcel Energy.
On days when Orchestrated Energy was in control of the thermostat, utilities were able to reduce HVAC load by an average of 85% during the demand response window, while also delivering an additional 14% of HVAC energy efficiency savings.
Tendril also said the results indicate customer comfort increased with the platform in use: utilities saw a 33% decrease in the number of times a customer adjusted their thermostat.
Tendril CEO Adrian Tuck said the results “are the culmination of years of groundbreaking work and lay a solid foundation for a future where utilities are taking innovative approaches to solving complex demand-side challenges.”
Xcel Energy tapped Tendril’s platform this year, and believed it could reduce cooling load by up to 50%, and lower overall consumption by up to 20%. Navigant expects the strategy to grow into a $3 billion market with some 20 million customers involved — up from about 50,000 at the beginning of last year.
Recommended Reading: TendrilAEP and Xcel Energy Tap Tendril to Dramatically Reduce Demand and Increase Energy Efficiency
