National Grid Launches Home Energy Report Program in NY

ALBANY, NY (05/03/2011)(readMedia)-- The Home Energy Report, an innovative energy efficiency tool that provides National Grid customers with essential information about their energy use compared to others, is on its way to 130,000 upstate New York National Grid customers. The Report helps customers save energy and money by comparing their energy usage to similar customers. National Grid was the first energy company on the East Coast to offer the unique, money and energy saving Report.

The Reports will be mailed to about 58,000 residents in the Greater Capital Region, 58,000 in Central New York and 14,000 in Western New York.

"This program is a new tool for our customers. The Home Energy Reports show customers how they stack up in terms of energy use in their community, and shows what simple changes they can make to reduce energy use and their carbon footprint," said Edward White, vice president, Energy Products, for National Grid. "It is also a great way for our customers to learn more about rebates and other programs available to help them achieve greater energy savings and reduce their energy costs."

The program was successfully launched in other parts of National Grid's service area and is currently being used in approximately 425,000 homes. The New York program has been approved by the New York Public Service Commission (PSC).

Thomas Shine, a National Grid customer who has received reports since January 2011, said his most recent report showed he used 29 percent less gas than his neighbors. "Tracking monthly energy use is the single most useful thing we can do," says Shine. "It's very helpful to see feedback that what we're doing is paying off, or not."

The Report anonymously compares customers' energy use with that of their neighbors of similar home size and demographics. The comparisons are used to motivate customers to take action on reducing their energy consumption. Customers can view the past 12 months of their energy usage and compare and contrast their energy consumption and costs with others in the same neighborhood.

Individual electric customers could save approximately 200 kilowatt hours simply through simple changes and by employing the energy-efficiency tips offered in the Home Energy Report. If all 130,000 electric and/or gas customers receiving the report make the suggested energy-efficiency improvements, collectively, they could save approximately 25,000 megawatt-hours of electricity over the life of the program scheduled to conclude at the end of 2012 -- enough to power nearly 1,800 homes for one year or offset the emissions of about 1,200 cars from the road.

An individual natural gas customer who implements energy-efficiency tips offered in the Report could save approximately 15 therms per year. If all the natural gas customers enrolled in the pilot used the suggested tips, they could collectively save nearly 2 million therms – equivalent to the amount of natural gas needed to provide heat and hot water for approximately 2,000 homes for one year.

A typical upstate New York participant in the Home Energy Reports Program can expect to save about $30 on electricity bills in one year, while a natural gas participant saves $20. This equates to a potential collective savings of as much as $6.8 million across all 130,000 customers in the upstate New York pilot program.

Home Energy Report participants also can access an online supplement to their report. On the web site, pilot customers can view their energy usage by month, take advantage of rebates and other incentives, get practical recommendations for their household and view the most popular tips visitors have taken advantage of.

National Grid is an international energy delivery company. In the U.S., National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, and manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. National Grid also owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation that provides power to over one million LIPA customers.

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