quasify

If you are a Massachusetts resident who has an account with NStar, today is the last day to get a steep discount ($US29.95 vs $CA149.95) on a PowerCost Monitor. This device shows current cost per hour, total usage and peak consumption. The thought behind this is that real-time information can lead to more informed decisions about power usage to lower overall consumption. To illustrate this, take a look at how electricity costs have changed over the last 24 hours.

While this is not as powerful or sophisticated as Maurie Gamze’s Energy-Smart Pricing Plan being tested in Chicago (which emails homeowners directly when prices hit certain levels throughout the day), but it’s a start. The 2005 ESPP Executive Summary shows they were seeing a 1.8 to 4.5% drop in power usage, depending on time of day and current cost levels. This is less than the 20%-25% being touted by the manufacturers of this and other similar products, but it’s a step towards bringing dynamic information reform to the otherwise inefficient electricity market.

I’ll have more on this once the device arrives.