Author Archives: Blake Young

Looking Back at DistribuTECH 2013

Posted in: Utility Thoughts by Blake Young | No Comments Monday, February 18, 2013

We made it! Having DistribuTECH in January definitely makes for a fast start to the year, but as ever, it was a great event. Our booth was buzzing every day and more importantly, we had really good discussions with customers, prospects and partners.

The event couldn’t have gotten off to a better start when, during the opening keynote, our customer Gulf Power won a POWERGRID International 2013 Project of the Year award for its innovative dynamic pricing program. It was well-deserved recognition for an innovative dynamic pricing program that allows participants to take advantage of lower energy prices 87 percent of the time and has resulted in customer satisfaction rates as high as 97 percent.

Back on the exhibition floor we were announcing SmartConsumer (a new customer engagement solution) and our new DirectLink smart thermostats and DCUs. As Smart Grid News explained, SmartConsumer provides “an integrated suite of software and services to help utilities reduce base load by educating and inspiring residential customers to become more energy aware.” But as anyone who knows us well will testify, the launch of SmartConsumer was hardly our first step into consumer engagement. As if to underline that point, the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC) recognized our work in that area by presenting us with the 2013 Customer Education award.

Looking at our new smart thermostats and DCUs, Katie Tweed of Greentech Media explained how they leverage a customer’s existing cellular or broadband connection to enable two-way communications, before noting that “less stuff obviously means less cost.” That’s exactly what we think and why we are convinced that our DirectLink products will dramatically reduce the cost of demand response program implementations.

We didn’t stop there, though. To contribute to the conference’s agenda, we partnered with two of our customers – Tampa Electric and Entergy Arkansas – to participate in the demand response track. Both presentations were very well-received, and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank them again for sharing their unique insights and best practices.

By any measure, DistribuTECH 2013 was tremendously successful for Comverge. I can’t think of a better way to start off the New Year than with great meetings, industry awards and the launch of innovative new products. Hope you all enjoyed the event, and we hope to see you next year!

Tagged , , , , , ,

Survey Says: People Want a Single Resource to Manage Their Energy Usage

Posted in: Industry View by Blake Young | No Comments Wednesday, January 23, 2013

In the past few years, the term “customer engagement” has generated a great deal of buzz in the energy industry, and at next week’s DistribuTECH event, it will be front and center among the thousands of attendees. Time and time again it has been shown that effective utility customer engagement is crucial to delivering successful demand-side management programs. Research that we recently commissioned sheds light on what’s working today and expectations for the future.

In early January, we polled 1,034 U.S. adults to learn more about their behaviors related to energy usage and energy management. The findings were insightful. For example, we saw that consumers increasingly want a single location to manage their energy efficiency and demand response efforts. This result was particularly pronounced among younger adults, with 69 percent of those ages 18-29 and 66 percent of those ages 30-39 providing this response. Also, while a majority of customers still rely on paper bills, there is a noticeable desire for the capability to access energy information online. Ultimately, results point to a growing appetite for utilities to better engage customers and provide intuitive tools for managing energy use.

These are developments that we find encouraging, and I can tell you that we will definitely have more to say about customer engagement at DistribuTECH next week. If you’re at the show, swing by our booth—#2829—to learn more!

One last thing—we issued  a press release with some of the highlights of the survey results, but for your reference we also wanted to share the specific findings by survey question. These details are supplied below.

1.     How often do you check your energy usage/bill?

%

7

 Every day

6

 2-3 times per week

9

 Once a week

62

 Once a month

16

 Never
Collapsed

22

 Weekly

62

 Monthly

16

 Never

2.     On average, how much time do you spend reviewing your energy usage/bill each month?

%

32

 Less than 5 minutes

30

 5 to less than 10 minutes

19

 10 to less than15 minutes

11

 15 to less than 30 minutes

4

 30 minutes or more

3

 Don’t know
Collapsed

62

 Less than 10 minutes

34

 More than 10 minutes

3.     How [do you currently/would you like to] access details on your energy usage/bill?

%

%

 Rank ordered by preferred source

Current

Preferred

72

58

 Monthly statement (paper)

36

40

 Monthly statement (online)

6

13

 In-home display unit or other standalone energy management device

7

6

 Social networking sites

4

        20 Other

2

*

 None of the above

4.     Would you prefer one place to manage all your different energy management initiatives?

%

57

 Yes

17

 No

26

 Don’t know

5.     Do you currently participate in any utility-offered energy efficiency or demand response programs?

%

16

 Yes

69

 No

14

 Don’t know

 

Tagged , , ,

Keeping the Lights On – Why Sandy Reinforces the Need for a More Resilient Grid

Posted in: Industry View by Blake Young | No Comments Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Events like Hurricane Sandy force us all to stop and think. As the cleanup continues, we are just beginning to understand its impact, but one thing we do know is that the storm caused huge power outages that have had very serious consequences.

Sandy is considered a once-in-a-generation storm, but as we have seen during the last few years, extreme weather is becoming more commonplace. Whether it is record breaking temperatures during the summer months, unseasonal weather or freezing conditions, these so called rare events are becoming more frequent and causing costly power outages.

While it’s tempting to point to the smart grid as the answer, the reality is that no amount of preparation can fully mitigate the risk of events like Sandy. Nicholas Abi-Samra, chair of the IEEE Power & Energy Society’s San Diego chapter, made this point perfectly in an interview with IEEE about how utilities were preparing for storm.

But while a more intelligent grid isn’t a panacea, it would certainly make a big difference  by improving the resiliency of our infrastructure.  As Katie Fehrenbacher explained in an excellent post on the topic, Sandy illustrates the need for increased investment in smart grid technology and presents a strong case for a distributed, smarter and cleaner power grid. To demonstrate the point, she highlights the stark contrast between the resiliency of our data communication networks and our power grid.

This is a point that has not been lost on regulators. At the recent National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners annual meeting in Baltimore, regulators from New Jersey explained that implementing alternatives to traditional electricity infrastructure is more critical than ever in light of the extended, widespread outages caused by Hurricane Sandy.

The good news is that work is already in progress to help improve the resiliency of our power grid. It’s what we do at Comverge every day and as Smart Grid News pointed out, there are many utilities across the country with innovative projects underway. These projects are making a difference and as one residential PPL customer pointed out, they really helped during Sandy.

By following the example set forth by the communications industry and using a combination of smart grid hardware and software to build a modern and digital network, we will be able to achieve a cleaner, more resilient power infrastructure. This is something we feel very passionately about at Comverge – and not just because we are in the energy industry. Hurricane Sandy and subsequent extreme weather conditions on the East Coast have personally impacted Comverge employees and their families. We are doing everything we can to help them and by working closely with grid operators, utilities and commercial and industrial organizations, we hope to be able to continue to play a part in making our electricity grid more resilient and reliable so that we can help lessen the impact of future events like Sandy.

Tagged , , ,

Comverge: Energy Made Better, And the Tagline to Prove It

Posted in: Industry View by Blake Young | No Comments Thursday, October 11, 2012

Vinaigrette drizzled onto lettuce = Vegetables Made Better. Hot fudge poured over a banana split = Ice Cream Made Better. Beautiful weather on a Sunday = Weekend Made Better.  You can see where I am going here….some things in life just work better together. It’s on that exact theme that we announce our new tagline: Energy Made Better. 

Simply said, Comverge makes energy better. Let me offer a bit more detail on some of the specific reasons we think Comverge has earned this new tagline:

  • We help utilities better manage the demand side of the energy equation. Utilities obtain the solutions they need to help their ratepayers understand their energy use, curb it, and save money and resources. Utilities can better ensure local electric grid reliability, too.
  • We foster better communication between utilities and customers. Comverge enables two-way, real-time exchanges among utilities and the residents and businesses they serve.
  • We better compensate for reduced consumption. Our demand response programs provide a significant source of new revenue for commercial and industrial participants, all with little change to their operating procedures.
  • We help residents better control their energy use. Better energy control translates to lower energy bills and more money to spend on other things. Residents can qualify for incentive payments, as well.
  • We create a better global environment. Comverge’s demand response solutions help the world run on less energy. The environment benefits from reduced need for peak power plants and lowered pollution.

At a time when the energy market faces many challenges—aging infrastructure, rising prices, unreliability, rising demand, tight regulation, and the integration of renewable energy—Comverge offers solutions that are better equipped to deal with today’s energy realities.

We’re excited to have a tag line that explains what we do, and we hope our innovations can help you meet your energy needs better than ever before.

Tagged