News - Pennsylvania's Newpower Selects ComfortChoice Thermostat

Pennsylvania's NewPower Selects ComfortChoice Thermostat

(Farmington, Conn., Aug. 29) - As temperatures heated up this summer, 100 households served by Pennsylvania's The New Power Company participated in a pilot program to help reduce electricity consumption by remotely controlling their home air conditioning system's thermostat.

The ComfortChoiceSM programmable thermostats, provided by Carrier Corporation, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX), were selected by NewPower to be part of a series of residential pilot projects it is offering to its customers. NewPower, the first national provider of electricity and natural gas to residential and small commercial customers in the United States, is running these pilots to evaluate new technologies for home usage and to develop new products and marketing strategies.

NewPower's ComfortChoice program, which began in early-June and will run through the end of September, will allow NewPower to temporarily adjust thermostat settings, but homeowners retain ultimate control and can override the temperature changes.

"By using Carrier's ComfortChoice energy demand management solution, NewPower is demonstrating its progressive and proactive efforts to reduce electricity demand during peak periods, ensuring a more reliable power supply and mitigating the need for increased production capacity," said Ken Fox, vice president and general manager of Carrier Electronics. "This in turn preserves natural resources and lowers harmful air emissions."

As part of the pilot, Carrier's communicating, programmable EMi thermostats have been installed in 100 homes in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas. Carrier provided NewPower with a software application that allows them to initiate a "curtailment" via the Internet. NewPower has the ability to adjust current thermostat settings, specifying the number of degrees and for what duration, to reduce demand and better manage their energy usage and costs. The customer always remains in control and may instantaneously override the adjustment at any time. All communication to and from the thermostat is achieved via the wireless two-way paging network. The two-way wireless technology enables energy providers to send curtailment messages, verify system operation, message receipt, curtailment participation and overrides.

"As NewPower has advocated since its inception, energy restructuring leads to technological innovation, efficiency and environmental benefits," said H. Eugene Lockhart, The New Power Company's president and chief executive officer. "The nation's move to energy restructuring makes it possible for consumers to better manage their energy needs."

With nearly 3,000 EMi thermostats installed in New York City and Long Island this summer, resulting in a three-megawatt potential energy savings, ComfortChoice is becoming a familiar player in the national energy management arena.

NewPower Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NPW), through its subsidiary, The New Power Company, is the first national provider of electricity and natural gas to residential and small commercial customers in the United States. The Company offers consumers in restructured retail energy markets competitive energy prices, pricing choices, improved customer service and other innovative products, services and incentives.