Save Money on Your Utility Bill

With the introduction of the Green Button by PG&E and SDG&E, I have been thinking about what third-party applications can be built utilizing the Green Button data.  One obvious application would use Green Button data to inform a utility customer that she can save money by switching to a different electricity rate offered by her utility.  Many utilities offer multiple rates in addition to the default rate, including rates that vary by time-of-use (TOU rates) and by monthly consumption (inclining block rates).  It can be difficult for a customer to determine which rate is the best option.

What I did not realize is that some utilities already offer this information to their customers!

This user could save $35/year by switching to PG&E's E-6 SMART, a time-of-use rate and critical peak pricing rate.

PG&E for example offers customer the ability to change tariffs by signing into their accounts under the "My Usage" > "My Rates" tab.  I am curious to know whether other utilities offer this capability to users.

While a rate compare application may be unnecessary in PG&E's service territory, it could be of great use in Texas.  In Texas, retail electricity provision is deregulated meaning that electricity providers compete to sign residential customers to electricity contracts, much like the rest of us purchase a cell phone contract.  If Green Button makes its way to Texas, customer will have control of their data and will be better able to compare the prices of different electricity providers.

Green Button offered by PG&E and SDG&E

This post was revised 2/12/2012


Last week, the White House announced the Green Button initiative.  The goal of the initiative is to

provide electricity customers with easy access to their energy usage data in a consumer-friendly and computer-friendly format via a “Green Button” on electric utilities’ website. With this information in hand, customers can take advantage of innovative energy apps to help them understand their energy usage and find ways to reduce electricity consumption and shrink bills, all while ensuring they retain privacy and security.
-Aneesh Chopra U.S. Chief Technology Officer

The first two utilities to offer the service are Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E). I was curious about the data available so I convinced a current PG&E customer to let me take a look at her energy usage information (thanks Mom!).

The Green Button provided me with a csv file which looked just like this sample file in the screenshot I have posted to the right.  In the case of the file I downloaded, data went back to mid-2008, which I assume is when my mom’s SmartMeter was installed.  There was a separate file available for natural gas usage, with a similar format.

The Green Button exported file includes hourly electricity usage.  The program intends to aid cost-effectiveness analyses for energy efficiency or distributed power investments (such as a more efficient boiler or solar panels).  Many residential electricity tariffs include multiple billing determinants, such as a $/kW demand change based on the maximum 15 minutes of demand in a month and a $/kWh energy charge based on hourly energy usage during the entire month.  In addition, both the demand and energy change can vary by the hour of the day.  Energy efficiency and distribute power investments provide energy savings at specific hours of the day and months of the year.  With hourly data, a homeowner or third party provider will be able to make informed decisions on these types of investments.

Overall, I like the effort to make data open and standardize the process to access it.  I am interested to see what third party applications are built to use this information.  My guess is that the green button will make customer cost projections easier and cheaper to generate for residential solar leasing companies such as SolarCity, Sungevity, and SunRun.