NORCROSS, Ga., Aug. 8, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comverge, Inc. (Nasdaq:COMV), a leading provider of Intelligent Energy Management solutions for Residential and Commercial + Industrial customers, today announced it has helped local utilities and grid operators in Texas minimize the impact of an extreme heat wave that has placed record breaking demand on the electricity grid.
With almost 40 consecutive days of temperatures of more than 100° F resulting in the hottest start to August in Texas history, Comverge helped ERCOT and TXU Energy reduce the strain on the grid by delivering approximately than 90 megawatts (MW) of reduced electricity demand to commercial + industrial (C+I) and residential customers.
"The extreme weather continues across the country and in Texas, it is pushing the electricity grid to its limits," said Steve Moffitt, Chief Operating Officer, Comverge. "Following on from the hottest ever July in Texas history, the last week has seen three new peak demand records in as many days. To minimize the impact of this incredible surge in demand and help save the Texas electrical grid from total blackout, we have been working closely with local utilities and grid operators. These events further underscore the critical role for demand response in our nation's energy mix and we are proud that our intelligent energy management software, hardware and services are helping conserve electricity at such an important time."
A week of extreme heat that saw temperatures exceed 110° F in some parts of Texas placed record demand on the grid with new records set on August 1st and August 2nd. On August 3rd, the record was broken again as the Texas grid saw demand spike at 68,294 MW, setting an all-time peak-use record. To help grid operators and utilities manage this demand, the Comverge Network Operations Center helped managed hundreds of data transactions without any interruptions in service. The ability to manage these requests was aided by Comverge's IntelliSOURCE platform, an operating environment that empowers the delivery of a myriad of energy management applications to customers.
The events in Texas follow on a record breaking heat wave along the Eastern seaboard that put approximately 132 million people under heat alert and threatened grid reliability in 15 eastern states. Working with local utilities and grid operators on July 19-22, Comverge executed 54 mandatory curtailment programs that managed almost a million residential load drops and 832 commercial and industrial sites. Further details are available here: http://bit.ly/qEF7Xd
About Comverge
With more than 500 utility and 2,100 commercial customers, as well as five million residential deployments, Comverge brings unparalleled industry knowledge and experience to offer the most reliable, easy-to-use, and cost-effective intelligent energy management programs. We deliver the insight and control that enables energy providers and consumers to optimize their power usage through the industry's only proven, comprehensive set of technology, services and information management solutions. For more information, visit www.comverge.com.