Utilities Across the U.S. Beat the Heat with Comverge Solutions

EAST HANOVER, N.J., Aug. 9  /PRNewswire/ -- Last week's severe heat wave caused many utilities throughout the country to reach or exceed their historic peak power usages which placed an enormous strain on the nation's electric grid. From California to Kentucky to Florida to Connecticut, many utility customers were asked to reduce electricity consumption in order to avoid rolling blackouts. During this critical period, Comverge's proven demand management solutions empowered utilities to conserve several gigawatts of peak capacity.

Many utilities offer their customers the option to enroll in energy savings programs that curtail the energy consumption of residential and small commercial HVAC systems, pool pumps, and hot water heaters during periods of peak usage. The most common devices curtailed are residential air conditioner compressors, which are cycled on and off based on a percentage run-time determined by the utility. Comverge, Inc. provides the technology to make these programs possible.

Estimates from utility programs across the country reveal that Comverge devices were responsible for providing several thousand megawatts of peak capacity. "Our Load Management program utilizing Comverge's technology shaved 70 MW off of our peak load last week," said Greg Fergason, Program Manager at Louisville Gas & Electric. "Comverge's devices were key to Louisville Gas & Electric's efforts to continue to deliver uninterrupted power to all of its customers during last week's two all-time record peak periods." Comverge's fully-outsourced Virtual Peaking Capacity(TM) CoolSentry(TM) program in southwestern Connecticut provided significant relief that helped to ease a particularly imminent threat in transmission constrained southwestern Connecticut.

The extremely reliable, immediate relief Comverge solutions provide has allowed several utilities to classify their programs as non-spinning reserves -- a classification normally reserved for peaking plants with very short ramp up periods. In addition to this value, Comverge solutions are capable of providing nearly double its normal capacity when operated in emergency mode, pushing Comverge devices' total available emergency capacity to nearly 10 gigawatts.

"This technology provides a real service to all of us, helping to optimize the grid in order to avoid power crises across the country," said Robert Chiste, Comverge Chairman and CEO. "Demand response and load management programs are an essential resource for maintaining reliability standards and safe transmission of adequate power to homes and business across the country, and we are proud to be the leading supplier of the technology behind these programs. Our Virtual Peaking Capacity(TM) programs in California, Connecticut, and Utah performed particularly well last week, evidence that the over 225 MW of contracted capacity will continue to become increasingly available."

About Comverge, Inc.

Comverge, Inc., The Power in Power Technology(TM), is a leading energy intelligence company whose investors include Nth Power, EnerTech Capital, Data Systems & Software, Inc. (OTC:DSSI) (BULLETIN BOARD: DSSI) , E.ON Venture Partners GmbH (NYSE:EON), Ridgewood Capital, Easton Hunt Capital Partners, L.P., Norsk Hydro Technology Ventures (NYSE:NHY), Rockport Capital Partners, and Shell Internet Ventures, an affiliate of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies (NYSE:RD). Comverge is represented across the world with offices and research facilities in Atlanta, Georgia; East Hanover, NJ; Newark, California; Pensacola, Florida; and Tel Aviv, Israel. Providing software and system solutions to over 500 clients in the electric utility industry, Comverge implements both integrated and outsourced solution based models for remote meter reading, distributed generation monitoring, and time-of-use billing and demand response, and direct or voluntary load control initiatives. For more information, visit Comverge's Website at: http://www.comverge.com/.

   Media Contact
   At Comverge, Bud Vos, Vice President of Marketing, 973.884.5970,
   

DATASOURCE: Comverge, Inc.



CONTACT:  Bud Vos, Vice President of Marketing, Comverge,

[phone], 



Web site:  http://www.comverge.com/ 

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