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Danvers Electric to offer energy saving pilot program

Posted Apr 01, 2010

Danvers — Danvers Electric is taking advantage of available grant money through the Mass Reggie Reimbursement Program to make use of energy tracking software developed by Gloucester-based Grounded Power. The program provides a web-based technology that monitors electric usage in real time from the customer’s meter and gives the customer access to that information through their home computer.

Danvers is partnering with Grounded power and five other municipal utilities in Massachusetts (Wellesley, Braintree, Hingham, North Attleboro, Wakefield) to help residential customers reduce their energy usage. The town has set a goal of reducing energy usage town-wide by 10 percent by 2013 through Customer Information Systems such as Grounded Power, to offset the need for further substation capacity and to keep rates low. A pilot of the software will be offered to 40 residential customers, as well as installed in most of the municipal buildings, including schools.

The equipment provided by Grounded Power enables visitors to the Town Hall, the Library, the teachers and the students, to view real-time energy data. A bar graph tracks energy consumption peaks and valleys in each building over a periods ranging from one hour to one week. The amount of kilowatts that the building uses is also highlighted, as are projected totals over the week or month and to what extent these amounts will exceed or fall short of the conservation goals set for each building. As well, the residents participating will be able to set their own goals and monitor their usage to help meet those goals. The Electric Division is hoping to develop incentives as part of the pilot program.

By inviting visitors to view the data in some of the municipal buildings, the town is seeking to build support for strategies to reduce costs. The public library, for example, is a popular destination on summer days because of its air conditioning. The monitoring system can give visitors a sense of how much money the town would save by keeping the library 3 degrees warmer.

Look for more details on this pilot program and how you may qualify to participate. Call or e-mail Chuck Underhill, senior power supply engineer at Danvers Electric, 978 777-2668 x630, or cunderhill@mail.danvers-ma.org