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So the utility company pays their customers, who in turn lower their bills by using less energy? Why?

maxerickson 12y ago
During high demand the utility may be purchasing the energy for rates much higher than they are collecting from the customer.
thesausageking 12y ago
No, the utility pays Nest. The customers get nothing.
- CrosseyeJack 12y ago
  source please.
- tlrobinson 12y ago
  "Rush Hour Rewards is a service that helps you earn money back from your energy company by using less energy when everyone else is using more. http://support.nest.com/article/What-is-Rush-Hour-Rewards http://support.nest.com/article/What-is-Rush-Hour-Rewards
andymurd 12y ago
Nest's demand response program is called Rush Hour Rewards. They have a good explanation of it on their website [1], but they claim that customers can opt out at any time, customers receive rewards through their electricity supplier. From what I can gather from tweets by participating customers, they do it because it's cool and exciting not because of the financial rewards. [1] http://support.nest.com/article/What-is-Rush-Hour-Rewards http://support.nest.com/article/What-is-Rush-Hour-Rewards
opendais 12y ago
It sounds like they pay Nest based on: http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/01/13/nest-gives-google-its-next-big-data-play-energy/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/01/13/nest-gives... "Nest founder and CEO Tony Fadell told Forbes last month that his company had struck deals with close to 20 utility companies, who paid Nest $30 to $50 per thermostat annually, to manage the energy usage of Nest customers who had opted into their utility’s demand-response program. As part of the program, Nest temporarily take over the healing and cooling of a homes for a set period, perhaps a few hours, and customers are notified that an “event” is set to happen some time beforehand. When Nest does this over multiple homes in a neighborhood or county it can, Fadell claimed, lower energy costs for utilities by 50%, by re-routing peak energy being used in empty homes. “We know how many people are home during those times,” he said “We know which homes have cooling, we can go through the data and we can say we believe we’re a five megawatt power generator or 10 megawatts in this county. That’s what we can deliver – 50-60% of the energy that was consumed in that window has been shifted away.” The services makes Nest a middle man for utility companies, meaning that Google itself will now play a role in managing energy efficiency programs across wide swathes of home and even counties – something that Google has been keen to do for some time." This is pretty much why I wouldn't buy a Nest. I don't need a 3rd party knowing when I'm not home.
- XorNot 12y ago
  As opposed to the people driving by who definitely will know, and may actually rob you based on that information?
  - opendais 12y ago
    You can't actually tell if I'm home by driving by. You'd need to get out and walk. That is, assuming you know the schedule of my automated lights and can accurately guess if I'm home or not with blackout curtains over my windows :P Even my neighbors don't know when I'm home half the time. I'm an odd duck.
prostoalex 12y ago
http://www.pge.com/en/myhome/saveenergymoney/plans/smartac/index.page http://www.pge.com/en/myhome/saveenergymoney/plans/smartac/i... When demand exceeds supply, brown-outs occur which means a lot of unhappy customers and, considering utilities' monopoly status, calls for investigations.

During high demand the utility may be purchasing the energy for rates much higher than they are collecting from the customer.

thesausageking 12y ago

No, the utility pays Nest. The customers get nothing.

CrosseyeJack 12y ago
source please.
tlrobinson 12y ago
"Rush Hour Rewards is a service that helps you earn money back from your energy company by using less energy when everyone else is using more. http://support.nest.com/article/What-is-Rush-Hour-Rewards http://support.nest.com/article/What-is-Rush-Hour-Rewards

andymurd 12y ago

Nest's demand response program is called Rush Hour Rewards. They have a good explanation of it on their website [1], but they claim that customers can opt out at any time, customers receive rewards through their electricity supplier. From what I can gather from tweets by participating customers, they do it because it's cool and exciting not because of the financial rewards. [1] http://support.nest.com/article/What-is-Rush-Hour-Rewards http://support.nest.com/article/What-is-Rush-Hour-Rewards

opendais 12y ago

It sounds like they pay Nest based on: http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/01/13/nest-gives-google-its-next-big-data-play-energy/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/01/13/nest-gives... "Nest founder and CEO Tony Fadell told Forbes last month that his company had struck deals with close to 20 utility companies, who paid Nest $30 to $50 per thermostat annually, to manage the energy usage of Nest customers who had opted into their utility’s demand-response program. As part of the program, Nest temporarily take over the healing and cooling of a homes for a set period, perhaps a few hours, and customers are notified that an “event” is set to happen some time beforehand. When Nest does this over multiple homes in a neighborhood or county it can, Fadell claimed, lower energy costs for utilities by 50%, by re-routing peak energy being used in empty homes. “We know how many people are home during those times,” he said “We know which homes have cooling, we can go through the data and we can say we believe we’re a five megawatt power generator or 10 megawatts in this county. That’s what we can deliver – 50-60% of the energy that was consumed in that window has been shifted away.” The services makes Nest a middle man for utility companies, meaning that Google itself will now play a role in managing energy efficiency programs across wide swathes of home and even counties – something that Google has been keen to do for some time." This is pretty much why I wouldn't buy a Nest. I don't need a 3rd party knowing when I'm not home.

XorNot 12y ago
As opposed to the people driving by who definitely will know, and may actually rob you based on that information?
- opendais 12y ago
  You can't actually tell if I'm home by driving by. You'd need to get out and walk. That is, assuming you know the schedule of my automated lights and can accurately guess if I'm home or not with blackout curtains over my windows :P Even my neighbors don't know when I'm home half the time. I'm an odd duck.

prostoalex 12y ago

http://www.pge.com/en/myhome/saveenergymoney/plans/smartac/index.page http://www.pge.com/en/myhome/saveenergymoney/plans/smartac/i... When demand exceeds supply, brown-outs occur which means a lot of unhappy customers and, considering utilities' monopoly status, calls for investigations.