Snohomish PUD Offering “FlexEnergy” Pilot Programs

Customers in Everett and Snohomish County who get their power from Snohomish PUD are invited to participate in new pilot programs to reduce home energy costs. Here’s more out from the PUD today.

Snohomish County PUD has launched pilot programs that will incentivize customers to change their behavior or employ innovative technology and save energy when demand on the electrical grid is at its greatest. The PUD plans to use the pilots to study the effects of shifting energy usage so the utility can keep rates low and meet clean energy goals.

The PUD’s FlexEnergy pilots are voluntary and open to all PUD customers who meet eligibility requirements. By enrolling, customers will earn bill credits and have the opportunity to save money on their bill.

“As we make plans to build the grid of the future that will meet customers’ energy demands, we want to partner with our customers to ensure that energy remains reliable and environmentally sustainable,” said John Haarlow, PUD CEO/General Manager. “Shifting usage from peak demand periods, when there is the greatest strain on the grid, to when energy is more available saves money for all of our customers.”

Customers who have a Google Nest or ecobee smart thermostat or ChargePoint or EnelX (JuiceBox) connected electric vehicle charger are eligible to enroll those devices in SnoPUD’s FlexEnergy pilot program. Customers who enroll their eligible smart technology will receive alerts on those devices for specific pilot events.

PUD customers who don’t have eligible smart technology can enroll in SnoPUD’s FlexEnergy Customer Choice pilot, which will incentivize customers to change their energy usage habits through simple behavioral changes like doing laundry at night or turning the heat down a few degrees at select times and days.

Based on the type of smart device they enroll, customers will be able to participate in one of three FlexEnergy pilots: FlexTime, FlexResponse or FlexPeak. The three pilots will focus on three approaches to shifting energy use: time-dynamic rate designs (FlexTime), and event-driven demand response (FlexResponse) and critical peak pricing (FlexPeak). Customers who enroll in the Customer Choice program can choose to take part in the FlexTime or FlexPeak pilot.

“These pilots will help the PUD learn more about customer usage flexibility and adoption of new pilot designs,” said Kelly Strand, PUD Customer and Energy Services Program Manager.

The PUD has partnered with Virtual Peaker, a cloud-based energy management platform, to deploy its FlexEnergy pilots. Virtual Peaker’s Distributed Energy Resources Management System (DERMS) will be used to enable customer and communicating device enrollment, event scheduling and management, and pilot analytics.

To participate in SnoPUD’s FlexEnergy pilot, customers are required to consent to the installation of a new meter. This is not an advanced meter and not associated with the PUD’s Connect Up program.

To enroll in SnoPUD’s FlexEnergy pilot or for more information, click here.