Cape and Vineyard participants reduced their daily energy use by almost 10 per cent in the Cape Light Compact’s residential smart home energy monitoring pilot program, according to a report by PA Consulting Group.

The report found the program “was successful on many fronts, including customer savings and its objectives to save energy.”

The program gives real-time feedback and energy-saving advice support my efforts to reduce energy use in my home every day. Participants facing the same challenges ‘compete’ for points, which help motivate them to stay engaged.

Cape Light Compact’s 100 pilot participants reduced their daily energy use by 9.3 percent or 2.9 kWh per day, the second highest decrease when compared to results from similar smart monitoring programs tested throughout North America. Three-quarters of the participants reduced energy consumption during the program. One-third reduced average energy consumption by 4 or more kWh per day.

Over the course of one year, participants conserved approximately 105,850 kWh of electricity, the equivalent of CO2 emissions saved by over 16 acres of pine forest or the greenhouse gas emissions avoided by recycling 25.6 tons of waste instead of sending it to the landfill.

Cape Light Compact designed the program to evaluate potential energy savings from in-home energy monitoring systems, gain insight to behavioral aspects of energy use, and inform future residential Smart Grid projects.