How does getting paid to save electricity for an hour a day sound to you?
Demand-side response, in the form of rewarding people for decreasing energy use during periods of high demand, helps lower CO2 emissions, protect local air quality, and lower electricity prices for everyone.
As we transition to 100% renewable energy + storage, the use of dirty and expensive peaker plants will be necessary to fill-in gaps between renewable energy supply and consumer electricity demand. Unlike traditional baseload coal, nuclear, or natural gas baseload plants; peaker plants (most of which run on natural gas) have the advantage of being able to turn off and on rather quickly to meet changes in demand.
While demand curves differ depending on things like geography, climate, local industry, etc, consumption generally peaks in the early evening and to a lesser extent in the morning when people are most active at home (running the AC, dishwasher, and clothes dryer while watching TV with the lights on).
Companies like OhmConnect are working to address these gaps, in particular when lower demand a little for an hour or two could prevent the use of a peaker plant. People like you and me (well currently only Californians) join and OhmConnect sends out a message via text, email, or their app letting you know when to cut your power consumption. Participation is purely voluntary and you can choose what, if anything, to turn off or which energy-hogging activity you delay. Data collected from smart meters (required in CA) helps OhmConnect determine how much energy you saved compared to your typical use and you get paid for the difference!
I think this concept is brilliant:
Why pay an energy company to start up an expensive peaker plant, when you can spend the same or lesser amount of money paying people not to use energy!?
Not only does this lower CO2 emissions, it decreases other air pollutants as well and lowers the cost of electricity for everyone.
Check out OhmConnect here. If you live in California, you get paid just for completing registration!
Check out Drawdown’s detailed summary and technical analysis on the concept (as part of "Grid Flexibility") here.
The graph below shows California's renewable generation today. You can see renewables peak in the middle of the day and are great between 10:00 and 4:00. The (current) problem is that demand ramps up around 5:30 or 6:00 right as everyone gets home and solar output starts a sharp decline. Affordable grid-scale storage is coming soon, but isn't in place now. This means we either need to shift demand around or run natural gas peaker plants.
Here is a screenshot of my OhmConnect app. Look at all my fun points! That's $253 BTW and I've already cashed out a lot more than that! If you are a Californian that pays an electric bill, join today! https://ohm.co/770edad
Feel free to check out my other posts on science, photography, volunteer computing, sustainability, cryptocurrencies with a purpose, and travel. Here are some of my favorites:
Sustainability and Climate
Bamboo – Solutions for Achieving Drawdown, Part 1.
Renewable Energy Now Provides More Electricity Than Nuclear in the US
Affordable Grid-Scale Storage Is Coming. (And in some places it has already arrived)
Using Algae for Wastewater Treatment and Biofuel Production
Why Climate Progress Will Continue in the USA.
Six Non-tree Things Paper Can be Made From (I promise these are interesting)
Drawdown - The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming
Science, Volunteer Computing, and Gridcoin
Let Your Computer Dream About Science While You Sleep (& Earn Cryptocurrency For Doing So!)
Steemit Writers, Science Needs Your Help! Get the word out on how any computer or Android can boost research on cancer, astrophysics, clean energy & more!
The Best Volunteer Computing Screensavers – Crowdsourcing Project
Scientists of Steemit! Tell us about your research on #Science!
BOINC – Impressive Accomplishments and Incredible Potential
Photography and Travel
Hawaii – Lava and Plants
Death to Snowballs!
End of the Road – Lava!
Sunset Over Mt. Tamalpais, California
Toque Macaques in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka
Birds on San Francisco Bay – With GIFs
Elephant Seals of Año Nuevo State Park, California
My Favorite Places to Backpack in the US
Why You Should Visit Arkansas: Mountains, Rivers, Public Diamond Mines & Great Food!
Photo Sphere / 360 Photos - I use Google StreetView App, Any other Recommendations?
Sleepy Lizard