equiwatt

Households across Derbyshire are set to benefit from the rollout of a new scheme by energy reduction tech company equiwatt. The scheme will reward homes in the county with Amazon or John Lewis vouchers worth nearly £200 for simply using less energy during peak times of the day.

Equiwatt is already working with National Grid to enable homes to take part in its Demand Flexibility Services (DFS) trials this winter, which are designed to protect energy supplies from running dangerously low. But this new scheme will bring even more energy saving rewards to residents.

Through the use of a free smartphone app, connected to household smart meters users earn points when they switch off or avoid using energy intensive appliances, such as fridge freezers, electric car chargers and washing machines, during specific peak time events. Points are rewarded according to the amount of energy and CO2 saved, which can then be exchanged for money saving vouchers.

Customers of any energy supplier can join the scheme and homes just need a connected smart meter to take part. They can also automate their energy saving to earn points up to the value of £200 a year by linking appliances with smart plugs and connecting smart EV chargers.

For every 1,000 homes that connect to the equiwatt service and take part in energy saving events 250 tonnes of CO2 can be saved a year, the same amount of CO2 absorbed by 11,900 trees. The more Derbyshire homes that take part, the greater the impact will be.

Johnson Fernandes, Founder and CEO of Equiwatt, said: “I’m delighted that we’re able to help people across Derbyshire reduce their peak time energy usage and earn great rewards in the process.

“With global energy prices remaining exceedingly high, local people want to do all they can to reduce their energy costs, and the technology that we’ve developed makes doing this incredibly easy and rewarding at the same time.”

“National Grid is doing a great job managing the network through its usage reduction scheme, but only a limited number of suppliers are taking part and even if you are with a company that’s part of the scheme, you might not be picked to take part.”

“With our technology it doesn’t matter who you get your electricity from, meaning tens of thousands of people across Derbyshire can save energy, reduce their bills and cut greenhouse emissions.”

ENDS

NEWS RELEASE: ISSUED ON BEHALF OF equiwatt

For further information contact Jason Brown 01325 363436

Editors’ Notes:

equiwatt is a free energy management platform that enables households to reduce emissions and energy usage while earning rewards from big brands like Amazon or John Lewis. Through the equiwatt app, users get notified when there is a period of peak demand and collectively people turn off their high-consumption appliances like fridges, dryers, or electric vehicle (EV) chargers for up to an hour. Households can connect with equiwatt via their existing home technologies like smart meters and smart plugs, giving them greater control over how they use energy and when. Smart plugs make participation automatic, but manually switching off devices works too.

When energy demand is high, there’s a strain on the national grid, and utility companies traditionally respond by powering up expensive, heavily polluting fossil fuel power plants. But, when you have thousands of homes ready to voluntarily turn off in unison, you have what’s known as a ‘Virtual Power Plant’ – something with the equivalent ability to meet the change in national energy demand.

https://www.equiwatt.com/