One place where Oregon is lagging behind other states is in implementing soft technologies for energy conservation, tools that help people know when it’s most helpful to minimize energy use. Chicago and now Maryland (see story excerpt below) have let people get “time of day” power rates so that they are rewarded for using power when it’s most available and discouraged from using it when it’s scarce. Flattening peaks by shifting demand to off-peak hours is a very effective strategy because it keeps the dirty “peaker” plants off line. It also helps prevent demand-induced outages–the kind that occur on hot days when people all turn on their air conditioners at once and the power lines sag with the heat until they contact a tree and boom!

Off-Peak Laundry? Pricing Power by the Hour

Pepco is about to start sending personal e-mail messages to Jonathan and Lauren Schwabish every few hours that could determine when they do the dishes, wash the baby’s clothes or turn on the air conditioner.

The couple will learn when the price of electricity for their old Capitol Hill home will spike the next day because Washington’s winter chill or its steamy summer is nudging up the demand for power.

If they wait to turn on the washing machine or they turn off the air conditioner when the sun beats down, they’ll be rewarded with a credit on their utility bill that could reach hundreds of dollars a year. Other D.C. residents have agreed to pay rates eight times the average if they use their appliances at peak times but rates well below it at off-peak hours, as part of a pilot program starting next month.

“Lexus lanes” are coming to the electricity grid. Energy conservation programs that died when the power market switched from regulation to competition are back, but with new technology and aggressive demands from government regulators facing anger over rising prices.

Just as long-awaited high-occupancy toll lanes will charge drivers a fee to travel at rush hours, electricity customers will pay more when the grid is congested and less when it’s not. If the strategies succeed, customers will not only slash their bills but also reduce pollution from coal-fired generating plants.

And within a few years, energy experts predict that Washingtonians will live like the cartoon Jetsons, their homes powered by computer chips that shut down washing machines and dishwashers when electricity prices soar.

“It’s not far-fetched,” said Mark Case, senior vice president of regulatory services for Baltimore Gas & Electric, which will start testing advanced meters in 5,000 Maryland homes in April, including some in Howard, Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 at 5:14 am and is filed under Energy Future, Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.