Reducing EV charging costs in CT the focus of UI pilot program

The United Illuminating Co. will launch a pilot program in June to help customers that have electric vehicles and heat pumps in their homes reduce their monthly energy bill by as much as $400 overall.

It’s one of many cost reduction pilot programs being launched by UI and Eversource Energy this summer.

The UI pilot program will allow participating customers with electric vehicles, or EVs, to reduce their energy consumption by between 15 and 20% while cutting their energy bills by as much as 30 % , company officials say. UI and its technology partner in the program, England-based Kraken Technologies, hope to enroll 700 customers in the pilot program.

Michael Crowley, manager of UI’s Smart Grid Innovation Programs, said company officials are in the midst of assessing how many of the utility’s customers either own electric vehicles or have heat pumps in their homes, or both. Crowley said company officials are also looking to assess the best way to recruit customers to participate in the pilot program.

“One of the things we’re looking into is whether or not we might need to offer incentives for participation,” he said.

Kraken’s technology will allow the electricity suppliers of UI’s customers to automatically match their energy usage to time periods when electricity is the cheapest. Becki Howarth, product lead for Kraken, said the company’s technology works via cloud computing and is “designed to meet the customer’s needs,” when electricity is needed.

“Once the customer has signed up for it, we say our technology is ‘set it and forget it,’ ” Howarth said.

The pilot program will last for 18 months, Crowley said.

Heat pumps use electricity to provide both heating and cooling to a building. They are efficient at transferring heat from one place to another, depending on where it is needed.

The program involving UI and Kraken Technologies is one of seven pilot programs approved by the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in December as part of an effort to modernize and improve the flexibility of the state’s electric grid.

All but one of the pilot programs involves the participation of either UI and Eversource Energy, according to Julia Dumaine, PURA’s supervisor of Strategy & Operations.

Eversource Energy is involved in three pilot programs, according to Jamie Ratliff, a company spokeswoman. Of the three projects, the most consumer focused pilot is being done with a Californiabased company, AmpUP.

The AmpUP program will see Eversource working with the electric vehicle network provider to help provide charging stations in multifamily housing complexes as well as at commercial properties and in public spaces.

Dumaine said the pilot programs approved by PURA are being funded through nearly $10 million in ratepayer money.

“Having programs like this with certain constraints around them helps make sure we maximize the value of the funding,” she said.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo The headquarters of The United Illuminating Co. off of Marsh Hill Road in Orange. The electric utility will launch a program to help customers who own electric vehicle or have heat pumps in their homes reduce their energy usage and their monthly bills.

Save the Sound An EV charges in the parking garage of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. United Illuminating and Eversource Energy are rolling out a number of pilot programs meant to lower the cost of EV charging.