Some New Albany residents are taking part in an AEP pilot project designed to give customers greater control over their energy use, encourage more efficient and responsible usage and increase the efficiency of the electric grid.

The AEP Ohio gridSMART® demonstration project incorporates a two-way communications system between AEP and customers that can send price signals to customers so they can decide when to run home appliances and can adjust customer thermostats automatically, with their pre-approval, when demand is high to relieve stress on the electric grid.

The $150 million project was funded with a $75 million grant from the DOE, in-kind contributions from vendors and regulatory recovery support from Ohio regulators.

One of the early findings is that a significant number of customers who participated in the time-of-day rate plan did shift their demand to different times. In a larger scale deployment, the program could provide relief to distribution systems during peak times.

To learn more, visit the gridSMART® site.