Electric Utility Company to Control Your HVAC?
Editor’s note 27-Oct-08: This article claims, incorrectly, that BGE offers its customers monetary credits for joining PeakRewards only in their first year of participation. In fact, BGE offers up to $100 each year for customers who join PeakRewards, with a one time bonus offerred in the first year of participation of up to an additional $100. This error was discovered after publication.
Our local power company, Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE), is offering a new program called Peak Rewards to residents in the mid-Atlantic region. Here’s the concept: you allow the utility to install a special programmable thermostat or outside switch on your A/C or Heatpump that gives them auxilary control over your system. In exchange, BGE gives you a one time credit of up to $200 on your bill, the free programmable thermostat, and the promise that as others join the program and reduce peak electrical demand, prices will fall.
As an added bonus, BGE says you’ll be helping the environment by reducing overall energy usage. If you don’t like the effects of the power cycling, you can opt out of the program at any time and the programmable thermostat is yours to keep. BGE claims that at their minimum participation level (what they call 50% participation), you likely won’t see very much change in your system’s performance.
The idea behind the plan is that BGE will have more control over the total load on the power grid at any given time. By cycling some houses off during peak hours, the utility can ensure less spikes to the power grid, meaning less overall electrical power generation is required (e.g., less powerplants are needed). Overall, more consistent power generation is cheaper and allows less basic fuels to be used. This, in turn, will drive prices down as demand for electricity declines.
The program sounds really great; but of course, the devil’s in the details. BGE’s frequently asked questions page clarifies that there are both emergency and non-emergency cycling events. Emergency events occur when the power grid is near peak usage. Non-emergency events occur because of a variety of other supply-related concerns. During emergency events, you cannot opt out of participation (e.g., override the control). During non-emergency events, customers can opt out of up to 2 events each year by calling a phone number. On average, since 1989, BGE reports approximately 7 cycling events per year, 1 emergency, and 6 non-emergency, each lasting between 3-6 hours, and always during peak Summer usage.
Obviously, a few times a year, most likely during extremely hot periods, there is a high probability that Peak Rewards members will have their systems cycled off.
We’re on the fence about Peak Rewards right now. Kim is home everyday with the boys, and the thought of dealing with exhausting heat just to get $100 bucks (the amount you get for 50% participation) seems like it might not be worth it. On the other hand, BGE says that most customers only experience a 2 degree change in temperature in a 4 hour cycling event.
So what do YOU think? Would you give the power company more control over your HVAC system, or is that just a little too creepy and controlling for you?
Photo courtesy of Macinate.
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24 Responses to Electric Utility Company to Control Your HVAC?
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October 23rd, 2008 9:09 am
I would. They cycle it on and off so most will barely notice it! It will still run… just not QUITE as often. So, instead of kicking on every 15 minutes, it might not kick on until 45 minutes has passed. They have that here in Colorado.. we don’t have A/C, so can’t participate. BUT, it sounds like a GREAT idea, and seems to work well in practice.
October 23rd, 2008 11:11 am
I wholly support this as an idea but feel frustrated by this execution. In this case, I feel that this power company is trying to take advantage of people seeking out enviro-friendly practices. A $200 one time credit is pathetic. They will save a ton of money by avoiding peak demand, which costs them a lot of money! They should provide ongoing savings to customers.
October 23rd, 2008 1:54 pm
I don’t want “the man” controlling when i have the ac/heat on and off…i can control the peak usage by installing a digital thermostat, and I can save the money myself by only using the heat/ac when i get home from work.
October 23rd, 2008 10:26 pm
Dave – I completely agree with you on this. It seems like this type of thing would save the utility big $. If they gave a credit every Summer for even $5 / event, I think that would be a huge incentive.
October 24th, 2008 7:30 am
If people think that BGE suddenly became friendly & green don’t pay your utility bill and see how nice they are. I’m a heating and air conditioning contractor.
This has more to do with sending marketing and sales messages to the homeowner than you getting green savings.
You get a message to call BGE home (Oh, that’s right they are NOT the same company, they just share the same name).
Do you think that when it gets bad and you want to opt out that you will be on hold for say 45 minutes? If it sounds too good to be true…
October 31st, 2008 7:04 am
[...] week I wrote about BGE’s new Peak Rewards program. One criticism I made in that article was that BGE did not offer their customers incentive to be in [...]
February 16th, 2009 6:55 pm
I think it is bge’s way to make money on service calls it’s there way to get there foot in your door when something goes wrong with your system due to a faulty t-stat and when they tell you your system has other problems which may not be your put on the spot.
March 17th, 2009 1:22 pm
I have been very frustrated by our large BGE bills and have started to read our meter every day, started a spreadsheet to track the monthly bills, started measuring how many kwH we’re using with each appliance/device, etc.
We are currently part of the Time of Use program which is the incentive program that has been around for a number of years and will automatically be converted to the Peak Rewards program soon. We do our laundry, run our dishwasher, and I do most of our cooking ahead of time only during the off peak hours (I make meals for the week on the weekend). We have a programmable thermostat. I hang clothes to air dry whenever possible.. According to our last bill, over 60% of our use is during off peak hours.
Anyway, I am starting to suspect that something is not quite right with the meter during the weekends which I need to explore more. HOWEVER, I have discovered that I paid $11.02 more on our last bill than we would have if we were on the standard flat rate rather than time of use plan!!! We paid $6.52 more for our energy use and $4.50 more for the customer charge (the customer charge for TOU customers is $12 vs. $7.50 for households on the standard plan.) Looking at my spreadsheet, we spent $15.69 more on our previous bill!
I am extremely angry over this. I keep our house at 55-57 degrees during the day (I work from home, so I am very aware of the cold and bundle myself in layers), and we keep it at 50 degrees at night. We bump it up to 60 degrees for the first two hours of the morning so it’s easier on morning dressing. I often quip that we “pay a lot to be this miserable”.
Part of the reason we work so hard to use less energy and to use most off-peak is because it is better for the environment (that was our main motivation when we first started). Another strong motivation is our relatively low income compared to the average American and having looming college expenses .
So, I am doing everything I can possibly think of to reduce our energy bill and carbon footprint (meanwhile helping BGE spread the demand) and then find out that I’m actually paying MORE!!
The long and short of it is – we need to make sure that the Peak Rewards is all it’s cracked up to be. We may sign up in the beginning but we will monitor the bills closely to make sure they don’t “bait and switch” us like they did with the Time of Use. I feel used and manipulated.
Nancy
A normally mild-mannered conservative person who is starting to feel like a wild-eyed radical individual fighting the nasty corporation. Give me a smart grid! Even better, I’d like to get off the grid!!
March 17th, 2009 9:42 pm
Nancy – thanks for the thoughts. I certainly appreciate your frustration and it is completely rediculous that you’re paying more in fees on an optimized plan than you would on the standard plan.
We’re certainly feeling the pinch from BGE this month. I haven’t taken a close look at our bill for the past two months because we’ve been very busy… I’m going to be looking very closely now.
July 14th, 2009 4:26 pm
I enrolled in BGE Peak Rewards 100% level in Dec 2008 and had my thermostat installed in Feb 2009. However, I have NOT received any of my $50 credits on my bill for June or July. Turns out my account is stuck in a “pending” status and not “enrolled.” I have been dealing with BGE reps and supervisors now for 3 weeks to resolve this. I was told yesterday that I may get my credit by Sept. This supervisor also told me that there is a spreadsheet with over 100 names on it of customers not receiving their credits. He then alleged there are only two employees to fix this problem. I am looking for some assistance in getting this situation more promptly resolved. The Peak Rewards program seems to get so much good publicity; I feel like this credit issue should be made public.
March 11th, 2010 11:45 am
BE VERY CAREFUL! The overall idea is not bad, but be very weary of the installers! Ask a couple of questions, most of them are performing by rote with minimal knowledge of your AC, your furnace or your heat pump!
March 15th, 2010 11:24 pm
DO NOT DO THIS, DO NOT INSTALL THE THERMOSTAT! The tech screwed up, and I took me a very long time to get someone to fix. We had out windows open in mid march to stay cool. Not very efficient use of energy. We couldnt even turn it off. When I called BGE to fix, they insisted I didnt know how to use my thermostat.
March 27th, 2010 1:12 pm
I did not even enroll in the program and found a technician had opened the back of my brand new a/c unit (installed Aug 2009) and was attempting to put this thermostat on. I told him to that I did not want the thermostat on my unit and he closed it back up and left. I never signed up or joined the peak rewards unit. How is it that he can just come onto to my property without telling me 8:30 a.m in the morning and install this thing. The new unit I have does an excellent of controlling the temperatures and I have seen a change in our bill. They claimed they sent a letter (I never received one) stating that if you did not send the letter back indicating yes or no, they would automatically send a technician to install it. Is that against the law?
March 29th, 2010 4:46 pm
In regard to my post of 3/27/2010, today (3/29/2010) I now discover that my a/c is not working.
June 15th, 2010 10:00 pm
i use to install these and train people on how to install them trust me most of these “techs” do not know squat about your units. Also the discount is way to small in my opinion for them to be controlling your ac. Alot of times these boxes which they call LCR boxes are installed without permission simply because that address may have been part of a similar program from the late 80’s early 90’s called the “Rider 5″ program whether or not someone else now lives there that address automatically gets upgraded many times without owners approval
June 16th, 2010 5:47 pm
A month ago, I had the BGE Peak Rewards thermostate installed thinking it would help with lowering my monthly bill. After the installatiion, my air conditioner did not work properly. In fact, it just did not work. After many questions, the problem was that the tech did not program the system for a heatpump. Another tech comes to fix the problem, a day later my air conditioner fan motor stopped working. Now this is just too much of a coincidence! When I complained, I was told that it was not due to anything the technicians did wrong.
Anyone else out there have this problem?
June 28th, 2010 7:31 pm
I have a similar problem in austin with austin energy. At peak times they have my ac on for 15 min and off for 15 min. I get home from work and feel like i live on a mexican farm. I didnt even know i was in a “program” to save energy, and they didnt know my name when i called the company that manages it! There is no discount to be in it that i know of, and if my request to opt out isnt approved im gonna rip the thing off the wall and tell them its broken every day till they do. Its my money paying for the energy after all. I am for building more power plants if we demand it. If you are one of these tree hugging lunatics like the retards out in Cali that were sitting in the dark not too long ago then i suggest you try to go with half an AC in Texas on a 100 degree humid July afternoon. If you cant handle that then dont complain about how much power we use hence you use it too. I pay the bill so give me the power!! If you don’t have enough power… then make more plants or allow someone else to profit from a necessary, and high demand business. I’m not too stupid to program my own thermostat like someone apparently thinks. If you want to help me on my power bill then write me a check! Someone that knows how to break their control off the thermostat should put a youtube video on how manually disable it.
July 6th, 2010 5:16 pm
I’ve had Peak Rewards for over a year now. The tech came out and installed the equipment outside 2 days after I requested it. I had the credits on my next BGE statement. I haven’t had any problems and have told several family and friends to sign up. At least 5 of them have and they are all very happy with it. Although I’ve received all of the first year bonus credits I still get the regular credit on my summer statements. Who wouldn’t want free money? If you are worried about not having air conditioning during an “event” don’t sign up for the 100% plan, only do 50% or 75%.
July 6th, 2010 5:25 pm
We had the Peak Rewards installed in March,2010, today is the first day with BGE’s cycling the system…..I can honestly say I HATE IT!!!!! BGE tells you that they shut it off for 15 minute intervals, they fail to tell you that these intervals can last up to 4-6 hours. We keep the thermostat set at a constant 75, BGE tells us to drop it to 70 or below when they are cycling….how in the he!! is this saving money? our furnace hasn’t stopped running for hours now, the house is hot as he!! and I’m getting a little concerned……..I am having it removed from our house ASAP!
July 6th, 2010 5:30 pm
oh, and one more thing….whom ever said there is only about a 2 degree difference…..HAH! try 10-15 degrees!
July 6th, 2010 5:51 pm
Yeah, we just bought a house that already had this scam installed on the A/C. I was thinking our unit wasn’t able to keep up with the heat, then it occurred to me that it was probably BGE PeakRewards.
The thermostat is currently 83, five degrees above our 78 setting. I work at home and am absolutely against these people choosing when to cut my air conditioning.
I’m sure it’s fine if one works elsewhere, but not at home. Even then, it’s nearly 6PM and it still has to catch up to where it should be.
July 6th, 2010 6:51 pm
Today is the first day I noticed, or even knew that I had enrolled in this program. It reached 105 degrees here in Baltimore today, and when I came home, I set the thermostat to 72, like I always do. It took about 10 minutes for the thing to kick on, which is unusual. After it had been on for 15 minutes, I noticed the air wasn’t very cool coming out of the vents. First thing I thought was “it picked a hell of a day to break down on me!”. After about 3 hours of this, I did an internet search of “air conditioner not cold enough”, to find out what the problem may be. I stumbled across an article stating that some utility companies were cycling people off. The light went on in my head, and I immediately went to BGE’s website, and checked my account. Sure enough there was a link titled “Manage My PeakRewards setting”, and when I clicked it, it showed that I had been cycled for 3 hrs and 59 minutes already today. I saw the link to “opt out”, so I was able to discontinue any more cycling for the day. Unfortunately, I also saw that I could only “opt out” 1 more time for the rest of this summer!! I have to say, I’m feeling very uncomfortable knowing that I can only control my AC for 1 more day, and after that I’m at the mercy of BGE. And tomorrow’s forecast high is 104, so there goes my last opt out.
Funny how I don’t remember ever signing up for this program.
July 6th, 2010 7:21 pm
I’m really unhappy with BGE Power right now. One should never be auto-enrolled into these things. It should always be opt-in.
July 28th, 2010 10:51 am
Unfortunately, I didn’t respond to BGE and they installed the Peak Rewards equipment on my a/c condenser unit. I immediately called and had them remove it the next day, which they did (leaving two unrepaired holes in the side of my house – thank you very little). Several weeks later, the internal unit froze into an ice block and stopped blowing cold air – only warm air. I called the company that installed the system (just two summers ago) and they detected that the Freon level was lower than normal, but not by much. They charged it – adding 1.7 lbs of Freon – and we were cool again. The tech couldn’t find any other issues, and the house cooled down immediately.
Two weeks later, we came home to a hot house again. The tech came out and inspected the system and found that internal blower unit had NOT frozen as before; this time, the motor on the condenser outside had been destroyed by a power surge. The interior wiring is burnt up and there is evidence of a small fire. I need to order an entirely new condenser. While it’s covered under warranty, being just two years old, the $1,000 in labor is not.
Naturally, I am suspicious that this has something to do with BGE installing and then removing the Peak Rewards equipment. Given the other comments about system problems after having the equipment installed, it only adds to my suspicion. I’ve never had an issue with surges or power failures affecting my A/C unit in the past and I’m obviously concerned about safety.
I have two questions:
1. Is there any foundation to my concerns that BGE’s activity could have caused these system problems and now failure?
2. Is power surges destroying condensers a common problem, and, if so, how do you prevent it from occurring again?
Thank you!