Opower has announced the successful deployment of its upgraded demand-side management (DSM) program with Chicago-based electric utility Commonwealth Edison.
ComEd leveraged the Opower platform’s new segmentation and targeting tools to aggregate data for more than 1.5 million of its residential customers to offer customized multi-channel communications that provide information to help them reduce energy use and save on their electricity bill.
This summer, ComEd will also launch its smart meter-enabled program called Peak Time Savings (PTS) using Opower’s Behavioral Demand Response solution. PTS saves customers money by applying credits to their bills for lowering electricity usage during high demand periods. Customers can earn a $1 credit on their electric bills for every kilowatt-hour of electricity reduced during Peak Time Savings Hours. These options can help to save energy and money, while also benefiting the environment by lessening the impact of energy use during high-demand periods.
“Our objective is to put control in our customers’ hands,” said Val Jensen, senior vice president of Customer Operations, ComEd. “Personalized communications, customized home energy reports, and demand response are some of the many tools we offer customers to help them better manage their energy use. As we deploy smart meters across northern Illinois, we hope to unlock even more value through digital energy management resources like Opower’s platform.”
ComEd is leveraging the Opower platform to connect with customers via their preferred energy channel - web, interactive voice response (IVR), and paper - to ensure higher levels of engagement. ComEd is one of the first utilities to utilize Opower’s segmentation and targeting tools, to provide personalized communications to ComEd’s highest residential energy users. With the use of Opower’s platform, ComEd expects these same customers will save 200,000 megawatt hours of energy and 2 percent annually on their electricity bill.
