Tendril, a consumer engagement applications and services company, has concluded a demand response (DR) pilot with Arizona-based utility Tucson Electric Power (TEP). According to Tendril, the program drove 2.3 kW per household of energy reduction among users for each DR event.
Tendril says its technology and services were used to manage the entire process. The company began with its Tendril 360 consumer engagement services to segment, acquire and retain customers for the program. Once the customers were enrolled, a portion was given Tendril's smart thermostats, the Set Point, while others received LCS, Tendril's load control switches. Customers were also given access to their energy activity data via a Web portal and the Tendril Insight, an in-home display.
After the program, Tendril and TEP analyzed results of the program. Some of the findings included the following:
- 72% of participants felt either very satisfied or satisfied with their experience as a participant in the program; - 31% of the participants logged in to the Web portal at least once a week, and an additional 31% of the participants logged in once a month; and - nearly all participants were either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied (53%) or neutral (38%) with the overall power reduction events.
The program also resulted in increased energy awareness by 2.35%, the company adds. While awareness wasn’t a goal of the program, Tendril says it shows the positive impact of increased consumer engagement around energy.
At the conclusion of the DR project, TEP extended its partnership with Tendril for a new energy awareness program, utilizing Tendril Energize, Tendril’s flagship consumer application suite. The program will leverage data generated by TEP’s advanced metering reading network, with Tendril’s cloud platform, Tendril Connect, facilitating delivery of 15-minute intervals of energy data to consumers.
Dan Hogan, supervisor of residential energy efficiency programs at Tucson Electric Power, says the utility is happy with the companies’ relationship.
“We selected Tendril because we felt confident they could provide a complete, start-to-finish technical solution for making demand response programs available to our customers,” comments Hogan. “Tendril’s technology allowed us to easily initiate new energy efficiency and other home energy management programs. Tendril has proven to be a valuable partner as we look to achieve our energy management goals.”
