In May, Reading Municipal Light Department (RMLD) launched its Shred the Peak campaign to educate customers about the impact of peak demand on RMLD’s future costs and in turn, customer’s electric bills. Peak demand is the one hour during the year when the highest level of electricity is consumed by the Northeast Massachusetts region. Reducing the level of electricity consumed during the peak demand hour will reduce RMLD’s future capacity costs, which are incurred for the electricity RMLD purchases from the wholesale market. These costs are passed through to customers on their electric bills, so reducing future capacity costs is a direct benefit to RMLD customers.
The success of the Shred the Peak initiative depends heavily on customer participation. RMLD is asking customers to pledge to “Shred the Peak” this summer by visiting http://bit.ly/shredthepeaksignup and entering their name and email address. This will ensure that they receive RMLD’s Shred the Peak alerts, which notify customers when a peak is predicted and asks them to conserve electricity during a specified time frame.
“Collectively reducing our electricity consumption during the peak demand hour is really important to reducing future costs. With more hot and humid weather coming, we’re asking folks to make a commitment to shred the peak by signing up for our email alerts and conserving electricity during predicted peaks,” said Jane Parenteau, Director of Integrated Resources.
Shred the Peak alerts are also posted on RMLD’s Twitter feed (@ReadingLight).
Peak demand typically occurs n a hot weekday afternoon from June to August between the hours of 2pm and 7pm. Peak demand will be predicted multiple times over the remainder of the summer to ensure the actual peak is captured.
For more information on RMLD’s Shred the Peak program, visit http://www.rmld.com/save-energy-money/pages/shred-the-peak.
