TXU Energy

This TXU Energy iThermostat is one of their many high-quality DSM products.

For most households and businesses conserving energy remains pretty basic. You install energy efficient light bulbs and appliances. The end. But TXU Energy’s energy efficiency and conservation solutions offer so much more. When it comes to saving energy, the Texas retail electric provider is an innovator in the energy industry.

TXU Energy committed to invest $100 million over a five-year period in tools and technology designed to help its more than 2 million customers better manage and reduce power usage to ultimately lower their bills.

            Why would an electricity retailer want to help its customers use less? It’s simple – Texas electricity customers can choose their provider and TXU Energy wants to differentiate itself to keep its customers for the long haul.  The best way to do that is to provide energy-saving solutions that customers value.

            TXU Energy Vice President of Innovation John Geary pointed out that one of the company’s main appeals to energy users is having “power over your power.”

“We work hard every day to satisfy our customers’ needs,” Geary said. “In part, we’re doing this through innovative technologies. We’re always looking for the best ways to help customers save energy, lower their bills and help the environment. It’s good for our customers and it’s good for Texas.”

Two of its most effective tools for managing electricity use are the TXU Energy iThermostat and the TXU Energy Power Monitor. The company projects its energy savings tools over the next five years will offset the need for building a small power plant. By the end of 2010, TXU Energy’s efficiency and conservation products and services will have eliminated the equivalent of about 7,500 homes from the power grid.

The TXU Energy iThermostat provides customers the ability to program and control their air conditioning and heating from the web. Because heating and cooling typically account for 60 percent of a home’s power usage in Texas, it’s one of the most effective ways to save on energy bills.

The easy-to-use thermostat even allows customers to track the energy cost for heating and cooling and alerts customers when filters need replacing.  

            You get all of that control and information at your fingertips through an Internet connection virtually anywhere. The average household reduces their energy bills by $180 a year.

            No wonder thousands of customers have signed up for the iThermostat.

“It’s the first device of its kind,” Geary said. “Customers really appreciate the convenience of managing their thermostat through the user-friendly web interface. They are very satisfied with the product and its benefits.  We’re winning new customers with it every day.”

The TXU Energy iThermostat is even catching on with TXU Energy’s business customers who want to manage temperatures at multiple locations from their central office through the web.  Numerous restaurant franchise owners are monitoring and controlling heating and cooling costs at dozens of restaurants throughout the Dallas and Houston area.  Some of the franchises are Ghenghis Grill, Sonic and Papa John’s Pizza.

            Another way TXU Energy allows homeowners to minimize energy waste is through the TXU Energy Power Monitor. The size and look of a small alarm clock, the TXU Energy Power Monitor allows customers to get an up-to-the-minute reading on their home’s energy usage. This helps them understand their consumption and they can use the information to better control their usage.

            For example, want to know how much power is gobbled up by that old clothes dryer and how much it impacts your wallet? Well, this device can pinpoint wasteful energy use in your home, so you can reduce it.

            You can see with the TXU Energy Power Monitor both the amount of electricity being used and what it is costing per hour, per day or over the monthly billing cycle.  Thousands of customers are taking advantage of the opportunity to decrease energy use between 4-15 percent for less than $5 a month.

            “Usually, you get your monthly bill and have no concept of how that was derived,” Geary said. “This user-friendly tool delivers a lot of information, educates you and helps you identify opportunities to adjust your energy usage.”

            TXU Energy has a number of other programs underway aimed at helping customers get more energy efficient and lower costs. 

Currently, TXU Energy is one of a handful of utilities from around the world participating in a pilot program with Google to create a free energy monitoring software tool for customers. The Google PowerMeter allows customers to receive detailed home energy consumption on their computer from a “smart meter” or another electricity monitoring device.

Geary foresees the technology leading to a smarter and better energy management system.

            “When Google had to pick a company to work with they selected TXU Energy because of our reputation for energy efficiency in the marketplace,” he said.

            It also maintains the TXU Energy Online Store along with EFI, one of the leading residential distributors of energy efficiency-related products in the United States. The online shop offers cost-effective and hard-to-find efficiency products such as motion sensing smart power strips that automatically turn appliances on and off and high-efficiency light bulbs that keep bugs away. 

            And its services even include comprehensive energy audits. Recently, TXU Energy worked with several large Marriott properties in Texas and made recommendations that would reduce electricity consumption by more than 2 million kilowatt-hours per year—that’s enough to power 115 homes—for a savings of $250 thousand per year.  Marriott can implement the energy savings projects with help from funds provided through TXU Energy’s Energy Efficiency Rebate Program (EERP), available to medium and large business customers who sign a commodity contract and implement a project that reduces energy consumption.  TXU Energy is the only retail electric provider in the state to provide this type of program.

            What’s the next big innovative energy saver from TXU Energy?

It has just launched an offer to make residential solar power more affordable. Currently, a 3-4 kWh solar system for the home costs about $25,000 but TXU Energy offers an opportunity that will enable customers to install solar panels for no upfront cost with a low monthly payment.  In fact, the reduction in electricity cost from using the panels would more than offset the monthly payment for those panels.  The end result: customers save money. 

“We’re investing in our consumers’ future and we’re really excited about that,” Geary said. “We don’t get any kind of recovery from our customers for investing in green solutions. But we think they are the right things to do. We think they are things that set TXU Energy apart.”