Smart appliances and dynamic demand in the US and the UK
In the the first quarter of 2009, General Electric will introduce a suite of ‘’smart” appliances or energy management enabled appliances that will receive a signal from the local utility and react based on the appliance’s internal programming. GE needs utility companies to collaborate in this endeavor. There are over 3,000 utilities in the US. GE is currently conducting a pilot program in Louisville, KY in partnership with Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E).
A similar pilot program in the UK will evaluate smart fridges. The electric and gas utility npower, is working with the RLtec to trial a dynamic demand program that substitutes load response for generation station response, balances supply and demand, improves the thermal efficiency of the electric grid, facilitates renewable generation integration, and mitigates system faults, all with no discernable impact on load performance. In the first phase of the UK program, 300 fridges fitted with RLtec’s technology will be distributed to npower consumers. Eventually the trial program will deploy 3,000 fridges and freezers of different types and models and assess the benefits of the technolgy.
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EIA: Retail Prices
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