Negocios Now

www.negociosnow.com 16 Agosto 2015 NegociosNow NegociosNow © Commonwealth Edison Company, 2015 For a smarter business, visit ComEd.com/BizSmartMeter or call 866-368-8326 Managing energy use is a smart way to do business. Smart meters give you greater control over your electricity use and keep your business running more efficiently with: · Access to your electricity-usage information online · No need for meter readers to visit your business · A reduction in the number of estimated bills · Improved monitoring of power quality on the smart grid · Automatic notification of outages when the smart grid is complete SMART METERS HELP YOUR BUSINESS SAVE WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK Smart grid benefits reach business customers By Tara García Mathewson W hether ComEd has replaced your lega- cy meter with a smart meter yet or not, the massive shi- ft to a new power grid in Illinois is already saving you money. ComEd reported in April year- over-year savings of $50 million in delivering electricity to its Illi- nois residential customers. Star- ting in January 2016, the deli- very service charge on residential electricity bills will reflect this and ComEd expects customers to save about $1 per month. Thomas Przytulski, senior business project manager of AMI Customer Experience at ComEd said the company will fully pass on such operational savings to customers. So far, the transition from the old, legacy grid to a new smart grid is ahead of schedule and ComEd expects to install 1 million meters in 2015, or about 20,000 per week. It should reach all of its nearly 4 million custo- mers by 2018. "We are already seeing savings as a result of operational efficien- cies from having a stronger, more reliable grid with fewer outages," Przytulski said. ComEd started with residen- tial households when it began the long process of replacing every single meter. Earlier this year it began swapping out the technology for its business clients, giving them access to a host of new energy monitoring tools. The new meters, with radio technology, report detailed ener- gy usage information to ComEd six times per day. Przytulski said customers have next-day access to hourly electricity usage through the Energy Insights Online portal. The program automatically turns the data into easy-to-read reports, helping businesses track their own energy initiati- ves and create new strategies. For businesses with multiple locations, managers can com- pare usage from one branch to another. And users will be able to track historical data, seeing how their energy consumption compares to previous months or years. When it comes to outages, the smart grid will provide a number of benefits. First of all, the grid is stronger, which cuts down on outages at their sou- rce. Second, the grid includes "smart switches," which auto- matically route power around problem areas. This reduces the domino effect of power outages, making problems in one area more discrete. In 2014, ComEd reported avoiding 1.2 million customer interruptions, largely because of this new technology. Przytulski points to the impro- ved customer experience during outages as another major bene- fit. No longer does ComEd rely on phone calls from customers to alert the company to a power outage. The meters themsel- ves handle communication to ComEd. "It is called a 'last gap' functionality," Przytulski said, "and it sends a signal when the power is out." Nighttime outages, then, don't have to be discovered by customers who need power first thing in the morning. ComEd can iden- tify the problem and respond almost immediately. When storms cause outages across large swaths of the state, ComEd can use the same tech- nology to identify problem poc- kets, sending teams to the har- dest hit areas first. Systemwide, smart meters are expected to save ComEd $100 million per year. The first business customers to get smart meters switched over early in 2015. As the insta- llation process continues, more businesses will get the oppor- tunity to take advantage of usa- ge reports and enroll in Energy Insights Online. Businesses that have smart meters already as well as tho- se anticipating their own smart meter installation can find more information about savings options at www.comed.com/ bizincentives. ADVERTORIAL Foto ComEd. ComEd technicians are busy at work replacing old meters with new ones that allow customers to track usage.

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