Episode 164 | Real-time Results | Copper Labs
We hear a lot about demand response and time-of-use when it comes to energy usage. If utilities can incentivize consumers to use less energy when demand is high, this eliminates the need to build more power plants. My guest says the problem so far has been how to send clear price signals.
Copper Labs CEO Dan Forman says the underlying technology was already there from a generation ago. Rather than AMI “Smart Meters,” the older AMR meters can broadcast usage data via radio, for instance, every 30 seconds. Smart meters, Dan says, can only give utilities 15-min data intervals the following day, best case.
The more affordable solution, he says, is their product that can pull the AMR data down in real time and transmit it back to utilities via Wi-Fi. The technology also works with smart meters
“Copper can make legacy and smart grids smarter,” he says.
This information can then be used to help incentivize behavior, especially when utilities could use some help. Copper says a pilot with National Grid in early 2022 helped curb usage 18%. Rather than expensive and difficult technology that would give utilities access to, say, stop charging an electric vehicle, Copper’s data crunching could tailor a program that puts the customer in charge.
“I think it’s really about turning these utility customers from rate payers into collaborators,” says Dan.
In addition to electric utilities, Copper’s equipment can also pull AMR data from gas and water users. Depending on the region of the country, (i.e. water in the West, gas in the Northeast), this could mean massive changes. Copper is also deploying a larger, outdoor sensor that can read AMR data from an entire neighborhood.
“Engaging those consumers in the moment with real-time data is going to drive better behavior change,” says Dan, “than following up the next month and saying, ‘Hey, I saw you charged your Tesla at the wrong time last month.’”
Now they’ll know now.
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