The Bainbridge Island electricity dashboard

Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride from Seattle, was recently given a choice by Puget Sound Energy. Either cut electricity consumption or pay for a new electrical substation for the island to meet rising electricity demand. It turns out that the average Bainbridge household was using 60% more electricity than the regional average, meaning there was a lot of potential energy efficiency gains to be had.

With a grant from the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Neighborhood Program, the city created an online information network to monitor island-wide electricity use and notify residents when peak demand was reaching the maximum allowed level. When this occurs (typically during a morning or evening hour in the winter), residents are able to view the island’s current electricity consumption with an online dashboard, and adjust their individual use accordingly. The first winter of the program, these efforts led to a 10 MW decrease in peak electricity consumption.

The program also offers free home energy audits (RePower Bainbridge has so far completed 41% of the island’s homes) which, along with energy efficiency upgrades, lower energy costs for residents. Check out the video from Climate Solutions below:

RePower Bainbridge from Climate Solutions on Vimeo.