WASHINGTON — Would Americans power down, unplug and flip the switch if they knew exactly how much electricity they were consuming and exactly how much they could save by consuming less?
The answer, at least for participants in an Energy Department study, is yes — to the tune of about 10% savings on their electricity bills.
Consumers with their home heating systems and some appliances outfitted to react to constantly changing price information were able to save that much while reducing demand on the power grid during peak periods, according to an Energy Department study released this week.
But some analysts say technology alone won't do the trick. Industry regulations must change for consumers to truly benefit from gadgets, meters and other advances that puts the power to use less power in their hands, says said Lynne Kiesling, a senior lecturer at Northwestern University's economics department who was part of the DOE project's research team.
More than 100 homeowners in Washington state received new electric meters, thermostats, water heaters and dryers that could be customized online to a desired level of comfort or economy and automatically respond to changing electricity prices in five-minute intervals. To reduce usage in peak periods when electricity is most expensive, the software automatically adjusted devices to the limits individual homeowners had set.
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Homeowners received updated pricing information online through IBM technology. Each household had a "virtual" bank account, and funds saved by adjusting home energy consumption based on the grid's needs were converted into real money kept by the homeowners.
Over the year-long GridWise project, run by DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., participants who responded to real-time prices reduced peak power use by 15%.
The technology exists to control home appliances, heating and air conditioning systems from a single remote control or online — much like the universal remote used to centrally control televisions, DVDs, DVRs, stereo systems and other entertainment gadgets. But with the current cost-based regulatory system used in most states, "there's no incentive for utilities to do it," Kiesling said Friday.
"Regulators are focused on cost-recovery, not on different value propositions that consumers could be willing to pay for," she said.
In a related DOE program, devices that respond to stress on the power grid were installed in dryers and water heaters in 150 homes in Washington and Oregon. The appliance controllers momentarily interrupt certain appliance functions and can act as a "shock absorber" for the grid to prevent or reduce the impact of power outages, according to the DOE lab.
Both studies helped reduce pressure on the grid during times of peak demand, which is critical to the security of the nation's aging energy grid as overall electricity demand continues to rise.
Based on a 15% reduction in peak load use in homes nationwide, $70 billion in infrastructure costs could be saved, according to DOE.
More "real world" demonstrations of the program's tools and concepts are planned, and the government will work with industry to establish standards that allow devices to communicate on the Internet, said Rob Pratt, program manager for GridWise.
The department spent about $2 million on the project, while public and private sector partners including IBM Corp., Sears Holdings Corp. and Whirlpool Corp., contributed money and equipment worth roughly $500,000.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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