CL&P To Test Internet Access

For Home Thermostats

WATERBURY — The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) is launching an online pilot program this summer designed to allow customers to help reduce power demands during peak emergencies while also lowering their monthly electric bills.

The test, which uses Internet access to home thermostats to automatically reduce a customer’s electrical demand during a power emergency, begins after this month among 50 selected households in CL&P Farmington Valley and Stamford service areas through October 1.

“This imaginative use of cutting-edge technology may yield another method to reduce demand when there is a power crisis,” said Michael W. Townsley, CL&P’s manager of market planning and conservation programs.

“The initial research project will help us understand how customers use this technology so that an effective program can be designed that fits into their modern lifestyles without compromising comfort, health, and the environment,” he said.

CL&P is working with Carrier Corporation, the world leader in heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration systems, and Silicon Energy, the leader in e-business energy enterprise solutions, through the new ComfortChoice program. The program enables utilities to manage residential energy usage, lower wholesale energy costs, offer improved electric reliability during the periods of peak demand, and preserve natural resources.

The method CL&P is testing includes the installation of a new, high-tech Carrier Energy Management Interface (Emi), an Internet communicating seven-day programmable thermostat, in homes with central air conditioners or heat pumps. Using Web-based software developed by Silicon Energy, CL&P will communicate with the thermostats remotely over the Internet to increase the current temperature setting during peak demand periods. The homeowner will have the ability to override the temperature setting via the Internet or thermostat at any time.

“This program offers cost savings to utilities, more reliable comfort and control to residential customers, and greater energy conservation to all of us who are committed to protecting the environment,” said Kenneth Fox, vice president and general manager of Carrier Electronics.

“By reducing demand during peak hours, utilities could realize substantial savings and homeowners can enjoy lower electric bills. This reduced power consumption will lead to more reliable power supply and mitigate the need for increased production capacity, which reduces investment, preserves natural resources, and lowers harmful air emissions.”