Starting this summer, the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company’s NextZero energy efficiency program is expanding its Connected Homes residential program to offer a commercial demand response pilot with participating municipal light plant (MLP) customers called Connected Buildings.
Connected Buildings takes a new approach to conserving energy. Rather than having commercial, industrial, and municipal customers enroll specific Wifi-enabled devices that allow NextZero to make adjustments during times of peak demand, such as with the traditional Connected Homes program, Connected Buildings will utilize advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) data to allow the customers to adjust their energy usage themselves, MMWEC said on July 6.
This expands the program beyond the scope of specific devices and brands and increases potential energy and cost savings for the light department.
Using AMI data, NextZero will determine the customer’s baseline energy usage on like days, calculating actual energy reduction and incentivizing customers based on their performance.
To assist customers in making real changes, NextZero will create a customer specific load reduction plan to outline what changes the customer can make during peak hours to reduce energy use, such as dimming lights by 20% or shifting water pumping cycles to off peak hours.
"This innovative behavior-based approach puts the customer in charge of their incentive by allowing the customer to be in control of the adjustments," MMWEC said.
Incentives are determined by the number of kilowatts reduced during peak hours. This approach uses the learnings gained from National Grid’s 2019 Behavioral Demand Response Evaluation Findings, and pilots quantifying and incentivizing the behavioral demand response program many MLPs use.
Using the same strategies, Connected Homes is also piloting a full AMI-based behavioral program.
Connected Homes is available to all MLPs, not just MMWEC Members. The Connected Buildings pilot is expected to launch this summer and conclude at the end of December. Based on the results of the pilot, NextZero expects to share the pilot findings and open the program to all light departments in 2027.
MMWEC is the Commonwealth’s designated joint action agency for municipal utilities in Massachusetts. Through its enabling state legislation, Chapter 775 of the Acts of 1975, MMWEC became a not-for-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
MMWEC’s enabling legislation gave it the unique power to issue tax-exempt revenue bonds to finance electric generating facilities and other projects. Using this statutory authority, MMWEC has issued more than $7 billion in bonds since 1976. It is the largest provider of asset-owned generation for municipal light departments in New England.
