Residents may be interested to know that our electric power company, NOVEC, offers a Load Management Program, which is available for units in our condo. The program provides a way for NOVEC to shutoff -- thus, manage -- certain loads for brief periods to reduce the amount of electricity the company must supply during periods of extremely high demand. As electricity supplied for peak demands is the most expensive, the program serves to save the company and, ultimately, the customer money.
In the program for our area, NOVEC will, at no charge, install on your hot water heater and air conditioner special switches that respond to signals transmitted over the electric wiring. NOVEC will then be able to shutoff your hot water heater for up to 2 hours and/or your air conditioner outside unit for up to 7½ minutes out of every half hour during peak demand periods. Such periods usually occur only a few days each month and last for a few hours. More than 45,000 such switches have been installed so far and the majority of load management participants are never inconvenienced by the switches.
While participants receive no immediate savings on their electric bill, company savings are passed through to all cooperative members through the Cash Back program. The program does offer the potential for significant dollar savings through offering to replace at no cost to the participant water heater electrical parts that should malfunction. They will also provide free evaluation for AC problems that participants might experience.
If you should be interested in more information about this program, you may contact the Energy Services Department of NOVEC at 703-392-1503 or at www.novec.com. Brochures are on the condo bulleting boards.
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