Indiana Michigan Power has announced a new contract with Google to help reduce stress on the electric grid during peak usage periods.
I&M Director of Communications Stephanny Smith tells us the company offers customers the option of signing up for a program to reduce their power consumption during “demand response events,” or times when everyone’s using a lot of power, like on especially hot days.
“So during those periods, we ask our customers who have signed up to participate in certain programs to please cut back on the amount of power that they use during certain time periods, and if they do, then they receive bill credits,” Smith said.
Smith says the program is available to residential customers and commercial customers alike, and now Google has signed on.
Smith says Google is building a new data center in Fort Wayne that will use a lot of juice. The new contract will reduce the stress it puts on the system.
“So what Google has been able to do is look at how they work and what types of jobs they are performing. And so what they’ve been able to say is, during these peak periods of power usage, what jobs are critical? What jobs can we maybe delay until later?”
Smith says Google’s participation in the demand response event program boosts Indiana Michigan Power’s ability to manage electricity demand during peak times. She adds this will help lower overall energy costs for all I&M customers.
The Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission will now review the contract.
Google released a blog post about the new agreement this week.
