Heat Wave During Labor Day Weekend Put Unprecedented Strain on the Grid; OhmConnect Members Reduced Energy Use on Sept. 6 Equivalent to Output of 3 Power Plants
Posted September 29, 2022
Oakland, Calif., Sept. 29, 2022 – OhmConnect, the leading provider of residential energy flexibility, supported the California Independent System Operator's (CAISO) Flex Alerts during the recent extended heat wave by incentivizing reduced home energy usage from Wednesday, August 31 to Thursday, September 8. In just nine days, OhmConnect's active members received over $2.7M in rewards and saved 1.5 GigaWatt hours (GWh) of energy, the equivalent of taking 1 million homes off the grid for an hour.
OhmConnect helps balance California's electric grid during periods of peak demand by paying its more than 200,000 active California members to reduce their home energy use when the grid is stressed. Members receive text and email alerts indicating when to power down in order to save electricity, and if they use less energy than forecasted, they earn rewards and save on their monthly utility bills.
During the nine-day heat wave, OhmConnect sent 6 million communications to its members; and toggled members' smart energy devices (such as smart thermostats and smart plugs) off and on 1.3 million times. OhmConnect members authorize OhmConnect to turn their smart devices off and on remotely, while retaining the ability to override and control their devices at all times. OhmConnect also awarded its members gift cards during the heat wave that can be redeemed for 30,140 buckets of popcorn, 17,349 tubs of ice cream; and 22,570 mocha lattes.
On September 6th, air conditioning needs pushed statewide electricity demand to a record-high 52 Gigawatts, threatening to cause rolling power outages. In response to CAISO's September 6th emergency alert, OhmConnect members delivered 374 MWh of reductions – equivalent to the output of three power plants.
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