Alicia just showed me my new favorite app for iPhones and Androids: ISO to Go from ISO New England. ISO to Go, which is also available for free, provides easy access to real-time electricity data for the New England grid including:
- Overview of the power grid and electricity markets
- Real-time consumer demand
- Charts showing the type of fuels currently in use in the region to generate electricity
- Current wholesale electricity prices
- and much, much more
I am geeking out over this data, which apparently has been available on the web for a while at ISO Express. I’ve often wondered what is the current load on the system, what is the fuel mix, etc. so that I can determine when the best time to do things like loads of laundry, charging an electric vehicle, or run the dishwasher is.
As consumers, access to this empowers us to make more informed choices on when we do energy intensive things to optimize on cost, CO2 emissions, and/or demand management. Of course, most of New England does not use time of day pricing for electricity, but I know plenty of people who will do the right thing if they have easy access to the data.
While this is not the full featured SmartGrid where appliances automatically react to price and load signals, this is a huge step forward. I really appreciate the extra education information contained in ISO to Go.
Get ISO to Go now and see what you can learn!
Happy Greening!
Jon
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