As Texas continues to grow, the demand for electricity—especially during the summer—also grows. To help prepare for that growth, Austin Energy is expanding its Power Partner program, which is designed to reduce stress on the power grid, reduce energy costs and support cleaner energy use.
As part of the Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2035, the goal of the Power Partner program is to save 78 megawatts of energy by 2027, and 270 megawatts by 2035. 270 Megawatts can power roughly 67,500 homes.
Power Partner connects customer-owned smart devices, including thermostats, electric vehicle chargers and home batteries, so they can work together during times when electricity demand is especially high.
Austin Energy demand response and technical services manager, Lindsey McDougall, said this system is called a “virtual power plant.”
With a virtual power plant, the utility can curb usage through thousands of small actions happening in homes across Austin. That could mean HVAC units using a little less energy or home batteries sending stored electricity back to the grid during peak demand times.
“We can aggregate all of these connected devices and use them to either curtail energy use or, in the case of batteries, use the stored electricity to serve nearby customer usage,” McDougall said.
The thermostat portion of the program has been around for several years and is currently the largest part of Power Partner, with about 38,000 thermostats connected across Austin.
During extremely hot days, electricity demand across Texas rises quickly, causing electricity to become more expensive for utilities to buy.
To help lower demand, Austin Energy can temporarily adjust participating thermostats by a few degrees during special “demand response events,” which happen around 25 times during the summer. The adjustment is small, but when thousands of homes participate together, the energy savings add up.
Customers stay in control of their thermostat and can change the temperature at any time if they want to opt out of an event.
According to McDougall, the program benefits both individual customers and the larger community by helping Austin Energy avoid buying as much expensive electricity during high-demand periods.
“It provides an avenue to affordability. We can lower prices for the whole community because we’re able to buy less expensive electricity,” McDougall said.
New battery program lets homeowners earn money from stored energy
Austin Energy launched its Power Partner Battery pilot program in March. The program works with home backup batteries, which are often paired with solar panels. These batteries store energy that homeowners can use during outages or emergencies.
Now, customers can also allow Austin Energy to use some of that stored energy during times when the grid needs extra support.
For example, a homeowner’s solar panels charge the battery during the day. Later, when electricity demand is high, Austin Energy can pull some of that stored energy from the battery to help support the grid. There will be 40 of these demand response events each year.
The batteries remain inside the customer’s home, and homeowners can decide how much battery power they are comfortable sharing.
Customers who install a new eligible battery system can receive a $500 incentive. They can also earn additional yearly payments based on how much energy their battery provides during demand response events.
“The average battery discharges about five kilowatts, so over the course of one year, a customer can earn about $325 from Austin Energy for allowing us to remotely discharge their battery,” McDougall said.
Customers with larger battery systems may earn more money because they can provide more stored energy during events.
So far, Austin Energy has enrolled over 100 customers and 165 batteries in the pilot program. The utility hopes to reach 1,500 battery systems within the first year.
Supporting Austin’s future energy needs
As Austin grows and energy needs continue to rise, programs like Power Partner are becoming increasingly important. This technology gives the community a new way to work together to support the grid.
“We are turning home energy technology into a community asset,” McDougall said. “We can work in a smart way to bring all of these pieces together to make a big impact and help make a cleaner, smarter and more resilient grid.”
Click here to learn more about Austin Energy’s Power Partner Battery program or to contact the team about home battery installation today.
The above story was produced by Senior Multi-Platform Journalist Sydney Heller with Community Impact's Storytelling team with information solely provided by the local business as part of their "sponsored content" purchase through our advertising team.
