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Residential energy is becoming companies’ business

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Residential energy is becoming companies’ business

Residential energy is becoming companies’ business
Sarah Golden
Fri, 05/29/2020 – 01:45

In this crazy upside-down world, the line between residential and commercial energy is getting fuzzy. 

Everything changed so quickly, it makes sense that climate and energy teams have yet to figure out how to account for the shift. But as companies such as Mastercard, Facebook and Twitter look at long-term remote work policies, working from home (WFH) is adding a new dimension to corporate carbon accounting. 

And it’s not too soon for climate-forward companies to think about how to incentivize employees to make their home (office) run off clean energy. 

It’s still early days for companies thinking about WFH energy usages as part of their own greenhouse gas footprint. Right now, commercial energy use is still high, and it’s not clear when or which workers will head back to the office. 

It’s not too soon for climate-forward companies to think about how to incentivize employees to make their home (office) run off clean energy.

According to Noah Goldstein, director of sustainability at Guidehouse, there also aren’t great calculations for what the GHG impact of working from home would be. The guidance is that the company is only responsible for”additional” energy use, but that is hard to determine without baseline calculations. 

“I can foresee some companies accounting for WFH in their 2020 or 2021 footprint, however, really, very few in number,” said Goldstein in an email. 

Five companies with residential energy programs for the COVID era

With people hunkering down at home as we enter a hotter than normal summer, residential demand response will be critical to keep energy affordable and clean(er). 

The pandemic began in a shoulder month — meaning a time of year where heating and cooling demands are low as most of the country experiences temperate weather. With restrictions on movement still in effect, grid operators are preparing for air conditioners alone to strain our energy infrastructure.

Demand response is a promising solution. According to an analysis by Wood Mackenzie, residential demand response would unlock more than 10 gigawatts of additional energy capacity. This would help utilities and states stay on track for clean energy goals and reduce energy bills at a time when households are struggling more than ever to make ends meet. 

Here are five companies with updated offerings tailored to the COVID-19 era, designed to make residential energy use smarter as our homes become our office (and bar and restaurant and concert venue and movie theater…)

1. Google Nest partners with utilities

Google recently announced its partnership with Consumers Energy to bring smart thermostats to up to 100,000 households in Michigan. According to its release, those who receive a thermostat will be enrolled in the utility’s Smart Thermostat Program, which shifts energy use to off-peak hours. 

The partnership is part of Consumers’ Clean Energy Plan, which is striving to reach net-zero carbon emissions. Shifting energy use during peak times is key to staying on track. 

This is just the first in a series of Google Nest’s partnerships. The company is expected to announce three more utility partnerships at the start of June. 

Google isn’t the only company teaming up with utilities to gamify demand response. Logical Buildings launched its GridRewards campaign last month to encourage residents to reduce energy usage at key times. Logical Buildings partnered with a consortium of municipalities in Westchester, New York. 

2. OhmConnect launches AutoOhms

Last week, OhmConnect announced AutoOhms, its newest program that offers cash incentives for”timely, and smarter energy use.”

AutoOhm will power down energy-intensive connected appliances in 15-minute increments during peak energy times. Customers will receive a text message when peak rates are about to kick in and can select appliances to power down through an app. Through this “gamified” experience, the customer can actively see their energy savings. 

The program is available for customers of California’s three big investor-owned utilities: Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric. 

3. Tesla Energy discusses Autobidder

Always a big dreamer, it comes as no surprise that Tesla’s energy division has its sights on becoming a distributed global utility. 

Tesla has been deploying distributed energy assets (think solar, electric vehicles, Powerwalls) while investing in grid-scale energy and storage projects. Now the company’s vision is to control these individual assets as one beast on its platform Autobidder. According to the website, Autobidder allows anyone with energy storage assets — be they EVs, solar plus storage, a home battery, anything — to engage in real-time trading and make additional money from the energy asset. 

Apparently, Autobidder already has been (quietly) around for a few years, operations at Tesla’s energy storage facility in South Australia. With Tesla talking about the software, the company is likely hoping for wider adoption. 

4. Leap Energy develops a demand response marketplace

Leap, a newer company in the world of demand response, is working to create a marketplace to better monetize energy resources. Its vision is to engage connected energy resources that aren’t currently participating in grid flexibility — which, according to its CEO Thomas Folker, is about 90 percent of energy assets.

“We are still an aggregator of other aggregators,” said Folker in a phone conversation last month. “We do not physically restrain any hardware, so we do not acquire any customers. We just supply the software that allows for all to happen.”

The platform allows for end energy consumers to bidding on funds and automatically facilitates the exchange. Its customers are need response companies — such as OhmConnect and Google Nest — also works to boost the value of distributed energy sources while providing flexibility into the grid. 

5. Span turns homes into microgrids

New on the scene with a new form of Series A finance, Span bills itself as a wise panel firm that works to integrate a home’s solar, energy storage and electrical car or truck. It’s like using a home’s energy resources because of microgrid. 

Span’s selling point will be energy resilience. The system functions to keep electricity flowing into where customers need it in case of a power outage, which, the organization points out at a launch , is of increasing importance as California is considering a future where shelter in place could overlap with projected power outages. (The company is initially focusing on California and Hawaii as crucial markets.)

This higher level of management and connected energy resources also means users can rely on their own assets once the grid gets more filthy energy. 

This report is adapted from GreenBiz’s newsletter Energy Weekly, running Thursdays. Register here.

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It’s not too soon to allow climate-forward companies to take into consideration how to displace workers to make their home (office) run off energy that is clean.

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Energy & Climate
COVID-19

Energy Efficiency

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