NORCROSS, Ga., Sept. 19, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comverge, Inc., the leading provider of Intelligent Energy Management solutions for Residential and Commercial & Industrial (C&I) customers, today announced Comverge SmartPrice™. An intelligent dynamic pricing solution, SmartPrice helps utilities quickly and cost-effectively realize the benefits of a dynamic pricing program such as significantly shaving peak demand, lowering customers' electricity bills and increasing customer satisfaction. An integrated suite of hardware and software, SmartPrice also offers flexible deployment options by using either a consumer's broadband network, a cellular network or the utility's Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) to enable a two-way information exchange.
Delivering Meaningful and Sustainable Reductions in Demand
At the core of SmartPrice is the Comverge IntelliSOURCE Demand Response Management System (DRMS), which enables utilities to send day-ahead or real-time price signals to a variety of customer end points. These include the Comverge Web portal, three different Comverge IntelliTEMP™ smart thermostats, the Comverge IntelliFOCUS™ in-home display (IHD), and mobile devices such as iPhones and tablet computers. In addition, the Comverge IntelliPEAK™ digital control unit (DCU) can control all high-energy use appliances and is capable of individually controlling up to four discrete energy loads each under potentially different rate schedules, saving both hardware and installation costs over the life of the program.
Consumers can also use the Comverge Web portal and IntelliTEMP, as well as mobile devices to "set and forget" a control schedule for all high-energy use appliances. The IntelliSOURCE platform then aggregates the control schedules of all participants to give utilities advanced insight into highly predictable load drop under their variable rate programs made available by consumer participation. With this approach, utilities have guaranteed capacity that can be dispatched at the push of a button.
"Built using more than a dozen years of experience successfully deploying sophisticated automated dynamic pricing programs, Comverge SmartPrice is a comprehensive solution that also provides utilities with significant flexibility for program deployment," said Comverge President and CEO, R. Blake Young. "As a fully interoperable solution, SmartPrice is the perfect option for any utility – from investor-owned to publicly-owned to cooperatives – looking to implement an automated dynamic pricing program that is broadly deployed or one that targets a subset of customers. As industry studies have shown, using technology to automate dynamic pricing programs can significantly increase peak demand reduction, as opposed to relying on the consumer to manually reduce demand."
Improving Customer Engagement and Satisfaction
SmartPrice empowers consumers to control their energy usage with access to near real-time insights into energy prices using web portals, programmable thermostats, in-home displays, and mobile devices.
Additionally, the Comverge IntelliMARKETSM customer recruitment service and Comverge IntelliSUPPORT SM installation and call center services provide utilities with a one-stop shop to implement a successful mass-market dynamic pricing program to ensure program success. IntelliMARKET, which has enrolled more than one million customers into energy management programs, uses market analysis and segmentation to identify customers who are most likely to enroll and be active participants in dynamic pricing programs, and then uses a variety of marketing channels to sign them up. The IntelliMARKET service can also assist utilities with developing a rate structure that delivers the highest possible number of program participants.
"Over the last 12 years, we have worked very closely with Comverge on our Energy Select TOU-CPP program," said David Eggart, Program Manager, Energy Select, Gulf Power. "The program has been incredibly successful, helping us achieve customer satisfaction rates over 90 percent and environmental benefits by lowering peak demand and deferring the need to build additional generating facilities. Today, we have almost 10,000 participants, which is not only a testament to the program's success, but also makes it the largest automated residential dynamic pricing program in the country."
SmartPrice is a scalable solution that supports a broad range of dynamic pricing programs including Time-of-Use (TOU), Critical Peak Pricing (CPP), Real-Time Pricing (RTP), and Peak-Time Rebate (PTR).
"Automated dynamic pricing programs help utilities improve customer engagement and satisfaction, while also providing a reliable way to reduce peak load and help consumers save money on their electricity bill," said Marianne Hedin, senior research analyst, Pike Research. "It is very important that utilities have the flexibility to offer a variety of demand response program options, including different price-responsive schemes, as there is no one size fits all approach."
About Comverge
Comverge delivers a comprehensive suite of intelligent energy management solutions that enable utilities, grid operators, and commercial and industrial organizations to optimize their energy usage in order to reduce costs, meet regulatory requirements, and support sustainability initiatives. With 30 years of experience helping customers implement innovative Demand-Side Management programs, Comverge has deployed more than five and a half million energy management devices, recruited over one million residential customers into mass market demand response programs, and served thousands of commercial & industrial customers. For more information, visit www.comverge.com and follow us on Twitter at @Comverge.