Armada Power and PG&E Announce the Launch of WatterSaver

Armada Power announces WatterSaver, a new pilot program with PG&E that incentivizes customers on a TOU rate to heat water when electricity prices are lower.

COLUMBUS, OH, UNITED STATES, March 31, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Armada Power, an energy technology company that empowers consumers to engage their electric water heaters into energy storage, efficiency, and cost savings programs without compromising the availability of hot water, announces the launch of WatterSaver, a new pilot program with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) that incentivizes customers on a Time-of-Use (TOU) rate to heat water when electricity prices are lower.

PG&E customers enrolled in a Time-of-Use rate plan who sign up for WatterSaver can optimize their energy use and save money by connecting their water heaters via internet or cellular to the program. WatterSaver automatically takes advantage of lower electricity rates, heating water at less expensive times of the day known as off-peak. Participants also receive a $50 gift card for enrolling plus an additional $5 gift card for each month of participation.

The WatterSaver pilot is expected to be one of the largest programs of its kind in the United States, connecting to and optimizing residential water heaters for approximately 5,000 – 9,000 eligible customers. In addition to saving money, participating PG&E customers will help increase electric grid reliability and support increased renewable energy generation like solar and wind power by shifting energy use to off-peak times. The goal of the behind-the-meter thermal storage program is to provide up to 2.5 megawatts of peak-load reduction by the end of 2025.

Administered through PG&E under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission, WatterSaver is implemented by the Association for Energy Affordability (AEA), Virtual Peaker and Energy Solutions. Eligible equipment includes smart heat pump water heaters, water heaters that are compatible with a CTA-2045 EcoPort module from e-Radio, or electric resistance waters heaters that are retrofitted with the Armada Power control module.

Armada Power’s energy management technology will provide PG&E consumers with real-time price optimization, peak demand reduction, power and maintenance monitoring, ancillary grid services, and CO2 reduction with no noticeable impact on hot water availability in their homes.

“Armada Power engages one of the largest energy consuming appliances in the home to solve a growing need for peak load and emission reductions. The device acts like a smart thermal storage ‘battery,” providing the consumer with a low-impact path to participate in grid reliability, demand response, and efficiency programs like WatterSavers. We are proud to have been selected to serve in this important program,” said Armada Power President, Timothy J. (T.J.) Harper.

“This innovative partnership will add intelligence to otherwise dormant appliances. WatterSaver creates grid-connected assets that store thermal energy and shift the load away from peak usage times so our TOU customers have hot water whenever they need it without having to pay peak energy prices,” said PG&E’s Vice President of Business Development and Customer Engagement, Aaron August.

The pilot launched on March 15 and will run until December 31, 2025.

For more information, visit www.watter-saver.com.

About the team:

Armada Power is a technology and software company that incorporates behind-the-meter, thermal storage technology into a secure platform that allows for millisecond grid response for demand, circuit, voltage, and load controls. Armada Power avoids high-carbon generation sources in real time by soaking up excess renewable energy on the grid, effectively transforming the second largest residential energy load device into a zero-carbon storage asset. Follow the company on LinkedIn or Twitter (@PowerArmada). For more information on Armada Power contact Paul Lekan.

Association for Energy Affordability (AEA), a not-for-profit technical services and training organization at the forefront of increasing energy efficiency and green building practices in residential buildings.

Virtual Peaker, a cloud-based distributed energy platform that empowers modern utilities to build the grid of the future and meet global decarbonization goals. The SaaS company’s platform suites unify all aspects of DER management, from DERMS to customer engagement and load forecasting. Virtual Peaker is a remote-first company based in the United States. For more information, visit www.virtual-peaker.com and follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter (@VirtualPeaker).

Energy Solutions, a mission-driven clean technologies and demand response implementation firm that, for more than 25 years, has pioneered end-to-end, market-driven solutions that deliver reliable, large-scale, and cost-effective energy savings to utility, government, and private sector clients across North America. For more information, visit www.energy-solution.com.

PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.

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MEDIA CONTACTS

Virtual Peaker:
Mark Ray | mark@markrayassociates.com | 802-355-0145
Amber Mullaney | amullaney@virtual-peaker.com | 502-689-0249

PG&E:
Katie Allen | kmad@pge.com | 661-865-8637

Armada Power:
David Myers | dmyers@armadapower.com | 614-918-7493

David Myers
Armada Power
+1 6149187493
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