NORCROSS, GA--(Marketwired - January 23, 2017) - Comverge, Inc., the leading provider of cloud-based demand response and energy efficiency solutions for electric utilities, today announced continued momentum for its demand response and energy efficiency programs targeting small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs).
In addition to the fifteen utility programs Comverge has already deployed targeting this customer segment, the company has recently contracted to roll out an integrated demand response and energy efficiency program to SMBs in a large investor-owned utility's Midwestern service territory. The program is designed to better engage these customers to help improve customer satisfaction scores, while also leveraging an untapped load resource. Businesses enrolled in the program receive installed Wi-Fi connected smart thermostats and software that enables them to take greater control of their energy usage and save money on their energy bills. Participants can also choose to have a load control switch installed and only receive the demand response program incentives.
"While representing approximately 35 percent of utility load, the SMB customer has been underrepresented when it comes to participation in demand-side management programs," said Dave Neal, Chief Operating Officer, Comverge. "We are seeing strong interest across the industry to deploy new products and services that help these customers save on energy, while also providing demand response capacity to the utility. Our success recruiting and engaging more than 45,000 SMB customers in demand response programs gives us unique advantage in understanding how to successfully serve this important customer segment."
The Comverge IntelliSOURCE Enterprise™ demand response management system provides the foundation for the program by automating every phase of the integrated demand response and energy efficiency program. The IntelliSOURCE-Control™ module enables the utility to build customized control strategies based on specific system requirements to deliver with precision the required load. IntelliSOURCE-Control also includes an optimization engine that takes into account the real-time operating status of all demand-side resources with varying customer preferences and program rules to deliver a precise curtailment shape. IntelliSOURCE-Customer™ includes tools for mobile appliance control and an actionable tips engine so the SMB customers enrolled in the program can conveniently reduce energy consumption. This adds to the bill savings already provided by demand response program incentive payments, while keeping the utility brand front-and-center.