May 20, 2015: ComEd Partners with Nest, Xfinity on Smart Thermostat Energy Saving Program
Using Smart Thermostats Helps to Decrease Energy Bills and Demand Placed on the Electric Grid
CHICAGO — Commonwealth Edison Co. (ComEd) announced it is partnering with Nest® Labs and Xfinity to offer incentives of up to $40 to the first 10,000 ComEd customers who enroll in Nest’s Rush Hour Rewards™ or Xfinity Home’s Summer Energy Management program. These smart thermostat programs, also called demand response plans, allow ComEd to reduce electricity demand on the hottest days of the summer through remote adjustment of thermostat settings. The customer remains in control, and can change the temperature anytime by simply adjusting the setting.
According to ComEd, a central air conditioning system can be one of the largest users of energy in a home. Using smart thermostats to reduce air conditioner use during peak demand periods helps to decrease energy bills and demand placed on the electric grid during the hottest times of the day.
“We are excited to partner with Nest and Xfinity Home to offer our customers another innovative solution to help them save energy and money,” said Val Jensen, senior vice president of customer operations, ComEd. “The demand response solution is part of our award winning Smart Ideas Energy Efficiency program, a suite of energy efficiency plans and initiatives available to ComEd customers that help them manage their energy use and provide tangible costs savings on electric bills.”
For a limited time, ComEd residential customers who currently have or install a new Nest Learning Thermostat™ and enroll in Nest’s Rush Hour Rewards, or have an Xfinity Home Thermostat and enroll in the Xfinity Home Summer Energy Management program, are eligible to earn up to $40 in incentives from ComEd. In addition, Xfinity Home customers who enroll in the program can qualify for a free Xfinity Home thermostat with professional installation if they do not already have one.
With Nest’s Rush Hour Rewards, temperatures are automatically adjusted around rush hours, or peak energy times. Depending on what Nest has learned from the customer’s temperature preferences and home, it will raise the temperature a few degrees during the afternoon and/or pre-cool a home before the rush hour begins. Nest will keep the temperature set and return to a customer’s regular schedule after the rush hour. Customers will also have access to Seasonal Savings™, in which Nest will fine-tune their schedule over a few weeks if it finds opportunities to help customers save even more energy while keeping them comfortable.
With Xfinity Home’s Summer Energy Management program, small adjustments will be made to the customer’s Xfinity home thermostat during select peak energy demand periods in the afternoon. The thermostat will return to the customer’s last set or scheduled temperature after the adjustment period has concluded. Customers can also take advantage of the EcoSaver energy management feature of Xfinity Home, which helps reduce air conditioning and heating costs automatically.
“Nest’s Rush Hour Rewards reduces air conditioning use by half during peak periods — all without sacrificing customer comfort,” said Ben Bixby, general manager of energy products, Nest. “We’re excited to work with ComEd to bring the program to customers this summer in combination with the $40 incentive they can receive by enrolling.”
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“We’re excited to work with ComEd on their demand response initiative,” said Dan Herscovici, senior vice president and general manager of Xfinity Home for Comcast Cable. “Helping customers save energy and lower the cost of their air conditioning and heating bills is one of our goals and this is a nice complement to ComEd’s Smart Ideas Energy Efficiency Program.”
Enrollment is open until May 31, 2015, or to the first 10,000 enrollments. For more information about this program, visit https://comed.com/thermostat.
Publication date: 5/18/2015
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