Anybody in Dominion’s critical peak pricing pilot program?

14 Responses to “Anybody in Dominion’s critical peak pricing pilot program?”

1. 

   Sure, if you like the power company adjusting your energy usage if they don’t like the way you live your life.

   Posted by Brian Kirwin | Saturday, June 7, 2008, 9:34 am
2. 

   Brian, that is an interesting way to look at it! I guess I would let them if it meant an overall savings in my annujal bill and helped in someway to lower the environmental impact of power generation.

   Vivian, I hope you will post any info you gather because I am also interested to know if it will help me save.

   Posted by Ron Wilson | Saturday, June 7, 2008, 11:04 am
3. 

   Some people have a life mission, it seems, to do all they can to ensure that the Tragedy of the Commons will always occur.

   Posted by MB | Saturday, June 7, 2008, 11:23 am
4. 

   Is the peak pilot program where they give you a new meter and a programmable thermostat that shows the pricing information real-time? I don’t know whether that will work so well, but maybe if people do see the higher price, they will reduce consumption.

   I read all the things Dominion is doing. I just wish it weren’t a pilot. Most of them I think would be quite effective at regulating demand (though there isn’t much incentive in VA’s rate structure for utilities to encourage reduced demand).

   I had an energy audit done, though not through Dominion. I have implemented the insulation recommendations. And I have noticed a dramatic difference in how often the furnace and A/C run. It was only done this year, so I don’t have a full idea on the cost savings for my electric bill. By September, I should.

   Posted by tx2vadem | Saturday, June 7, 2008, 12:40 pm
5. 

   Yes, that’s right, according to the flyer that came. And it requires a one year commitment.

   Posted by vjp | Saturday, June 7, 2008, 1:27 pm
6. 

   What’s “Domion?” You mean “Dominion?”

   Posted by NotDomion | Saturday, June 7, 2008, 2:35 pm
7. 

   We are talking about it at my house. My boyfriend has several co-workers who use it and the feedback has been positive.

   Posted by proudvadem | Saturday, June 7, 2008, 6:18 pm
8. 

   I fixed the headline. (Funny that no one else noticed.)

   I am going to consider it, for sure.

   Posted by vjp | Saturday, June 7, 2008, 7:35 pm
9. 

   No, I think I would rather see:
   – more smoking power plants
   – more transmission lines cutting through my neighborhood
   – higher electric costs to match my higher gas cost

   . . . no wait a minute, on second thought, I wonder if this can be avoided by simply balancing when power is consumed. I’ll check it out, maybe this has some merit.
   

   Cheers,
   Rich

   Posted by Gale Rich | Friday, June 13, 2008, 12:19 pm
10. 

    Here is the Dominion web site – http://www.dom.com/customer/efficiency/programs.jsp

    I just enrolled, but was told by the phone rep that no installs are presently being scheduled – installs are still a month out, at least for my area in Northern VA. What’s interesting is that the peak periods are limited to twenty five 5 hour periods per year. Of course, that will be when the temp is 105F or -10F, when you’d most like to be able to keep your house comfortable. The thermostat can automatically override your settings with a signal from Dominion during those periods, but you can set it right back. During the peak period, your rates are around 5X normal rates. If you can live with not running your ac, dishwasher, oven, etc. during those periods, I think you will save money. If you don’t adjust your consumption, I think you’ll end up paying more.

    Posted by Anonymous | Thursday, June 19, 2008, 2:05 pm
11. 

    I enrolled yesterday by calling the 800 listed on the flyer; according to the rep. it will take another 30 days before Dominion starts the pilot program. They are looking for 500 testers, and has 457 enrolled so far. The rep. did say, even it listed as one year commitment, but you can drop out anytime, there is no penalty.

    Posted by Zilla | Thursday, June 19, 2008, 2:53 pm
12. 

    I’m with Brian. I don’t want the power company and the environmental nazis controlling my thermostat and other energy usage. I could save a lot of money if I sat in a hot room in July and sweat like a hog. In California these thermostats are mandatory in new construction. Get ready to have big brother control your water usage, your health care, and every aspect of your life. We need to build more power plants, not ration energy.

    Posted by Tom Abdella | Thursday, August 7, 2008, 9:45 pm
13. 

    I signed up and was set up a few weeks ago. I got a new meter (Eljer type 2s, if that means anything) and they later came by with the thermostat. I understand that they communicate using ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4, a lower data rate cousin of bluetooth).

    I have a few concerns, and I guess I’ll have to call, because they don’t have any other means of feedback.

    First, the link between the meter and thermostat is iffy at best and the thermostat often cannot see the meter (meaning no display of energy usage – and it also seems that the emergency power periods are staying in the thermostat; why else would it think we had a power emergency on a Sunday).

    Second, they lock out the setback controls. During cheap and medium price periods, there is no adjustment and I cannot change that. During a power emergency, there is a 4 degree adjustment, which is a lot. I’d like to drop that to 2 or 3, and put a 1 degree setback on the medium pricing periods.

    I don’t see the colored LEDs that the manual describes – that must be a different model. I need some online means of hearing about power events, as we don’t pass the thermostat most mornings.

    The thermostat supports load switches. If I could buy one, I’d have the hot water heater cycle based on cost and maybe even force the dryer to turn off during emergency pricing to make sure it isn’t inadvertently run.

    Conceptually, I thought that the pricing was the motivator for the consumer to make all of the decisions ourselves, and the restrictions/limitations in the thermostat settings are frustrating.

    That said, I think that time of day pricing should be mandatory for all regulated utilities in the US, and technology like the smart thermostat is how the consumer will be able to adjust and monitor usage to meet the pricing and hopefully lower our bills (since we’ll be saving the utilities money if we do it right).

    Or at least, I’d like the non-fuel costs to not go up.

    Rick

    Posted by Rick Nyman | Monday, September 15, 2008, 6:33 am

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