PSE&G’s MyPower Pricing Pilot Program Wins National Recognition

Awarded outstanding achievement in pricing and demand response

PSE&G, New Jersey’s largest utility, is the recipient of a major industry award for its energy efficient pilot that successfully reduced participants’ summer energy consumption over two summers.

The Association of Energy Services Professionals (AESP) recently announced that PSE&G won the Energy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pricing and Demand Response for the company’s myPower energy efficiency pilot. The award was presented at AESP’s National Energy Services Conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida.

The myPower pilot examined how price signals can influence customer energy usage patterns. The project also assessed the value of technology in supporting customers’ ability to respond.

During testing in 2006 and 2007, customers using thermostats that automatically respond to price signals successfully reduced their on-peak period demand by 47 percent on summer peak days. Program participants also reduced their total summer energy use by 3 to 4 percent compared to a control group, and most customers saw lower energy bills. Participants overall said they would recommend the program to a friend or relative and believed the environment would benefit from PSE&G’s ability to offer additional programs similar to myPower.

“Customers responded to the opportunity to conserve and shift load when power was in peak demand,” said Susanna Chiu, director of utility marketing for PSE&G and coordinator of the pilot team, who accepted the AESP award on behalf of the company. “We were honored that the association recognized and highlighted our contribution to advancing efficiencies for our customers.”

AESP’s energy conference gathered utility professionals, energy marketers, government regulators and industry advisors for the three-day exchange of information on energy efficiency and demand response issues facing the industry and the country.

“With energy efficiency and climate change on the minds of so many of the nation’s consumers, we were pleased to recognize PSE&G and organizations who have advanced energy efficiency initiatives and contributed to the advancement of the awareness within their communities,” said AESP President & CEO Meg Matt.