Consumer Products Reduce Cost of Electricity, Revolutionize Energy Use

New Home and Business Energy Innovations Will Save Money

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 22, 2007

Contact:
Crystal Borde
(202) 331-4323
cborde@vancomm.com

Consumer Products Reduce Cost of Electricity, Revolutionize Energy Use
New Home and Business Energy Innovations Will Save Money

New products that make reducing power bills and conserving energy as easy as managing cell phone minutes will allow consumers to control the cost and amount of their energy use, according to a report released by the Galvin Electricity Initiative. With electricity rates soaring, higher energy bills force consumers to make decisions that impact their quality of life during cold winters and hot summers — use less electricity to save money for other necessities.

The Path to Perfect Power: New Technologies Advance Consumer Control report states that emerging energy devices will join the trend of products making homes and workplaces smarter and more automated than ever before by helping consumers identify when they are using electricity, how much that electricity costs and adjust their use accordingly.

New tools include Web portals and remote devices that allow users to monitor fluctuating energy costs and run appliances when away from the home or office. Many of these home automation and building intelligence technologies are already available at local home improvement retailers like Lowe’s and Best Buy and through home and commercial contractors, telephone companies and energy retailers. The report projects that by 2010, energy management devices will be the hottest sector in the technology marketplace.

Currently, few consumers know the real cost of electricity, which fluctuates by the minute. In today’s system, most individuals pay a bill that amounts to an average of the cost of the power they use over a set period of time. The emerging trend called “demand-response” allows customers to reduce power use during more expensive peak periods.

“Right now, few consumers have control over how much they pay for their energy use and are frustrated by high electricity bills,” said Kurt Yeager, executive director of the Galvin Electricity Initiative. “With these new energy management tools, consumers can take control of their energy expenses and ultimately, reduce their bills by using energy more efficiently.”

Through the demand-response approach, not only will consumers pay less for electricity, but according to the report, the widespread integration of these convenient energy management systems in homes and businesses will also reduce energy demand overall. This will increase efficient use of the energy grid and create less stress on the environment. If only 40 percent of residential customers begin managing their energy load by using similar devices, a major reduction in electricity demand will occur.

The Galvin Electricity Initiative, launched by former Motorola chief Robert W. Galvin, is leading a campaign to transform the nation’s inefficient, unreliable and insecure electric power system into one that can truly meet consumers’ needs in this new century. Galvin’s vision for this transformation includes a major technical update of existing systems that allows for consumer control of energy use as well as the interconnection of smart microgrids and distributed generation systems around the country.

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