Carrier Provides Comfortchoice To "LIPAEdge" Program
Long Island Power Authority's LIPAEdge Program Addresses Energy Shortage Issues
With the threat of rolling blackouts and energy shortages becoming more prevalent this summer, Carrier is providing an energy demand solution to electric utilities and customers.
Carrier's energy demand management solution -- called ComfortChoiceSM -- addresses power reliability and energy cost issues, particularly during periods of peak demand. By reducing energy usage during these periods, or during capacity shortfalls, utilities can increase system reliability, reduce energy price spikes and maintain adequate energy supplies.
ComfortChoice is ideal for utilities and their residential and small business customers because it helps to reduce energy consumption and offers a flexible platform that is customer sensitive. By reducing demand during peak hours, electric utilities can ensure that a more reliable power supply mitigates the need for increased production capacity, which reduces investment, preserves natural resources and lowers harmful air emissions.
Worth A Small Power Plant
The ComfortChoice solution was launched recently in conjunction with the Long Island Power Authority's LIPAEdge program for residential and small business customers. The solution is part of a new energy conservation program designed to help participating customers get the most out of their energy dollars, while helping Long Island's electric system operate as efficiently as possible.
"This could make the difference between going to blackouts or brownouts during an extended heatwave and avoiding them altogether," said LIPA Chairman and CEO Richard M. Kessel. "The ComfortChoice thermostat is potentially worth one small power plant to us. The saved energy means one small turbine we won't have to build on Long Island."
Jodi Marks of Hauppauge, N.Y. was one of the first to sign up for the new program, saying she wanted to do her part to help conserve energy, and save an estimated 15 percent on her $150 monthly summer electric bill.
By briefly tapping into customer-based power reserves this summer for 30 minutes per hour between the hours of 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on critical energy use days, LIPA could conserve about five megawatts (MW) of electricity from 5,000 participating customers. That's enough electricity to run about 5,000 average-sized Long Island homes.
How It Works
The LIPAEdge program features the installation of a new, high technology Carrier Energy Management Interface (EMi), an Internet-communicating, seven-day programmable thermostat, in homes and small businesses with central air conditioners or heat pumps. The ComfortChoice solution offers Internet functionality and two-way wireless messaging, provided by Skytel. The wireless technology is easy to install and doesn't interfere with existing communications equipment in the home, such as telephone lines and wireless networks.
Using Web-based software developed by Silicon Energy, the global leader in Enterprise Energy Management solutions, a LIPA operator initiates a thermostat set point change, specifying how many degrees and for what duration. At any time, the homeowner can choose to override the set point directly through the thermostat, and a message will be transmitted via the Internet back to the utility.
The customer also can remotely access the thermostat over the Internet from a standard Web browser to obtain status, adjust set points, program the thermostat and perform overrides. Or, through Carrier's innovative and easy-to-use Web-based programming feature, homeowners can easily and quickly program their EMi thermostats to take advantage of the energy saving benefits. For homeowners without web access, LIPAEdge operators can remotely program the thermostat and download the settings to the individual's home.
LIPA will have the ability to remotely control participating cooling systems on seven occasions between June 1 and September 30 of each year, for approximately14 hours out of a total of 2,900 hours. After the brief control period, the thermostat is remotely returned to its original settings. Customers retain control of their system 99.5 percent of the time.
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