Gulf of Maine Research Institute Reaches Finals in National Contest Using Data from CMP Smart Meters and Energy Manager Program

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Gulf of Maine Research Institute Reaches Finals in National Contest
Using Data from CMP Smart Meters and Energy Manager Program

AUGUSTA, Maine, May 21, 2014 — Using data from smart meters provided by Central Maine Power Co. (CMP), a subsidiary of Iberdrola USA, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) has advanced in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) American Energy Data Challenge. GMRI’s “How Clean is Your Shirt” app is one of four finalists in “Apps for Energy II,” the second of four contests in the DOE’s year-long challenge.

 

Apps for Energy II is designed to tap the consumer benefits of new technology, such as CMP’s smart meters, by promoting the creation of new applications — or apps — to address today’s energy challenges. The Energy Department awards cash prizes for the best web and mobile applications developed to help solve energy questions and problems.

 

“We are proud to partner with GMRI on these innovations, and it’s great to see a project developed by people right here in Maine rise to the top,” says Laney Brown, director of Smart Grid Planning & Programs for CMP. “The deployment of smart meters and other new technology is already driving development of some truly innovative energy use apps. Customers can get a better understanding of their energy use and even weigh the costs and benefits of energy improvements they might be considering.”

GMRI’s PowerHouse classroom education program connects Maine's seventh and  eighth grade students and their laptop computers to their household smart meters, enabling them to set savings goals and monitor daily, weekly, monthly and annual progress toward those goals.

 

Working with Tilson Technologies, one of CMP’s partners in its smart meter program, the GMRI team developed an app that uses the ISO New England Web Services API to overlay carbon impact (represented by near real-time fuel mix) on individual household electricity data. This provides PowerHouse program participants with personalized representations of the amount of carbon produced by their household's electricity use. As CMP and Maine’s Public Utilities Commission establish time-of-day pricing structures, cost data will be added to the tool, providing an even more refined mechanism for families to understand the carbon and cost impacts of time-of-day electricity use.

 

By using the How Clean is Your Shirt? functionality, students can make informed decisions not just about how they use electricity at home, but when they choose to use that electricity. Equipped with rigorous data and analysis tools, students become a driving force in reducing their household carbon footprint, while gaining relevant skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

 

More information about GMRI’s PowerHouse program can be found at http://www.gmri.org/education/display.asp?a=4&b=23&c=216. The American Energy Data Challenge hosts a web site at http://energychallenge.energy.gov/.

 

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About Central Maine Power Company (CMP): Central Maine Power Company, a subsidiary of Iberdrola USA, is Maine’s largest electricity transmission and distribution utility. The company delivers about 9 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually to more than 600,000 homes and businesses, representing about 80% of Maine’s annual consumer sales of electricity. The company has been ranked #1 in customer satisfaction six times by J.D. Power and Associates. For more information, visit www.cmpco.com/.

 

About Iberdrola USA: Iberdrola USA is the U.S. subsidiary of global energy leader Iberdrola, S.A. The Iberdrola USA companies employ about 5,000 people with operations in 24 states from New England to the West Coast, providing electricity generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas storage and distribution, and energy services. For more information, please visit our website: www.iberdrolausa.com. Follow us on Twitter: @IberdrolaUSA 

 

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