Smart Meter Experience

[cdmoore125]

Originally Posted by Calvert Hall '62

Last 3 report cards from BGE:

4/14/15-6/12/15: All neighbors with similar size house=2,670 kWh; Efficient neighbors 1,565; Me 897 (43% less electricity than efficient neighbors.)

2/13/15-4/13/15: All neighbors with similar size house=3,645 kWh; Efficient neighbors 1,905; Me 1,301 (32% less electricity than efficient neighbors.)

12/12/14-2/12/15: All neighbors with similar size house=4,345 kWh; Efficient neighbors 2.356; Me 1,432 (39% less electricity than efficient neighbors.)

I do not sacrifice any personal comfort and therefore cannot take credit for these report cards. The reason for the relatively low energy use is the fact that I'm a widower living alone. E.g., never use the electric range, wash only one load of clothes every two weeks, and so on.

Having said all that, the individual Energy Savings Days are mean. E.g., during this most recent one, I spent much of the day in the lower level, a daylight basement where the temp never goes above 65F. Kept the A/C off all day until 6pm when the upstairs temp hit 85F. Payoff was $12+, not worth it.

The thing about Energy Savings Days is that they're comparing you with yourself. If you already have a good track record, the additional savings probably won't be significant.

No disrespect intended to BGE. The power outage crews really do their best when storms hit. Mom was a secretary for BGE and always raved how well they treated their employees even after retiring. Like the other poster, I have shares of Exelon common passed down from mom as BGE shares.

So you use ~650 kWh of electricity a month, which by what I see above for comparisons, is pretty darn good. That is probably around $100/month - if you saved $12 on one day, that's pretty good, don't you think? I'm just going off my own perceived marginal costs/benefits in that assumption. But again, you don't have to participate in anything, and these are programs mandated by the State of Maryland.

[Calvert Hall '62]

Originally Posted by cdmoore125

So you use ~650 kWh of electricity a month, which by what I see above for comparisons, is pretty darn good. That is probably around $100/month - if you saved $12 on one day, that's pretty good, don't you think? I'm just going off my own perceived marginal costs/benefits in that assumption. But again, you don't have to participate in anything, and these are programs mandated by the State of Maryland.

I don't recall signing-up for any of the BGE "green" programs. Perhaps my late wife did. She took care of this type of household business. At any rate, I'm probably missing something but do I actually earn "rewards" of saving $$ for using less? In other words, as a non-participant wouldn't I save the same amt. for simply using less?

Also, the language that we are using "less than your typical usage" is deceiving, because they're comparing your usage on a day that will always be higher than the average of "your typical usage." In other words, they pick the day with the highest forecasted temperature. They should compare your usage with that of others where everyone faces the same temperature and humidity conditions. That's what they do on their two-month energy usage reports.

[cdmoore125]

Originally Posted by Calvert Hall '62

I don't recall signing-up for any of the BGE "green" programs. Perhaps my late wife did. She took care of this type of household business. At any rate, I'm probably missing something but do I actually earn "rewards" of saving $$ for using less? In other words, as a non-participant wouldn't I save the same amt. for simply using less?

Also, the language that we are using "less than your typical usage" is deceiving, because they're comparing your usage on a day that will always be higher than the average of "your typical usage." In other words, they pick the day with the highest forecasted temperature. They should compare your usage with that of others where everyone faces the same temperature and humidity conditions. That's what they do on their two-month energy usage reports.

Yes, please see the links as you are not required to participate. At worst, you should see $0. At best, you will use way less. If you choose to ignore, maybe you will save a little bit.

They use temperature and humidity to create modeled forecasts, individualized to you based on your historic usage for similar days. Yes, it is not perfect, but that's how you model demand in the industry. Use a factor of temperature, humidity, cooling degree days, and come up with the best fitting regression. Statistically it isn't a linear function. I.e. The all else equal, your demand on a 80 degree day to 85 degree to 90 degree is not a straight line function.

[Michael21214]

Originally Posted by Calvert Hall '62

$12.59 for July 21. Still not worth it.

I got my bill, and 7/21 was also declared to be an energy savings day for me and I got a credit of $12.63.

I normally get a $12.50 credit for the cycling anyway (I think 75%).

But 7/29 is also listed as an energy savings day, and I got an additional $14.63 credit.

I was away from home both days, usual work days, and did nothing different with the thermostat settings. 7/21 had a high of 91, 7/29 had a high of 88.

I called BGE and asked a rep to explain what triggers an energy savings day - what is the usage compared to? She seemed to think it was compared to what the usage was 2 weeks previous to the energy savings day, but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me, and she wasn't really sure anyway.

Anyone know what triggers an energy savings day?

[cdmoore125]

Energy savings days are triggered based upon forecasted power demands within the PJM ISO, specifically in this region. I am not familiar with the forecast they use to create a baseline.