Coming soon ... lower home energy bills

Canada (SANEPR.com) October 14, 2008 --Emergency Economic Stabilization Act Provides Incentives for the Smart Grid. The passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) includes incentives to build the Smart Grid. The Smart Grid will help reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Aztech Associates, Inc. is one of the North America's leading designers and manufacturers of smart grid products for the home. Aztech manufactures the In-Home Display (www.aztechmeter.com) which shows residential consumers their energy use and cost in real time. Consumers who know these facts have been shown to use energy wisely. Utilities are able to offer consumers special programs to opt in and out of to save even more energy and money using the device.

Aztech believes passage of EESA puts all the key elements in place for widespread use of In-Home Displays. The In-Home Display is the face of the Smart Grid for the consumer.

``The new Smart Grid policies will help America achieve earlier energy independence than anyone imagined,' said Geoff Salter, CEO of Aztech. ``Consumers using In-Home Displays in tests over the past four years showed utility companies could payback their investment in these devices in less than three years. With EESA incentives the investment could well be recovered in as little as one year.”

Consumers could also benefit in time to help them during the economic downturn. Tests show consumers can shave 10% off their utility bills once the device is in their homes. “It is truly a win – win – win for the country, the consumer and the utility,” said Salter. “In today's uncertain economy, In-Home Displays as part of the Smart Grid may be the very best investment a utility can make. Regulators interested in seeing consumers get a good deal will be all over this now that the incentives are in place.'

Groundwork for EESA was put in place by Congress in 2007. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) was passed to encourage conservation and avoid dependence on foreign oil. EISA required states to consider adopting various Smart Grid policies for the electric utilities they regulate but EISA didn’t contain incentives to begin deploying the Smart Grid right away. EESA, in a surprising move, put the needed incentives in place and requires utilities to act fast to get the incentives. This move turns the Smart Grid business case on its head. Deploy now or lose the incentives is way the law is written.

Like the energy law signed by President Franklin Roosevelt mandating Rural Electrification in 1936 EESA is designed to improve the national electric grid. The circumstances for passage of this law are strikingly similar to those in the early 1930’s. America in 1936 was seeking to recover from the Great Depression and this law was enacted as part of a plan to avoid America falling into a depression. The 1936 law proved investment in America’s electric grid creates jobs, builds economic strength and insures future prosperity.

Public utility commissions are expected to get behind building out the Smart Grid early as well. They represent residential utility users who will see immediate savings many times the cost of any surcharge that may be necessary to speed up putting the Smart Grid in place.

“These two federal laws fit together perfectly,” said Gardner McBride, Aztech’s Vice President of Development and a former Washington DC Real Estate Trade Association Executive, “the 2007 law required states to evaluate the Smart Grid business case. The 2008 law follows up with the incentives to put those business cases over the top for utilities and consumers.”

McBride pointed out that the law requires In-Home displays to have alternative energy features that permit a resident who installs a solar system, for example, to see if they are selling power to the grid or buying power from the grid and their net cost or income. It also requires that In-Home Displays offer two-way communication between the consumer and the utility to permit consumers to opt-in or opt-out of favorable pricing plans in real time.

“Once In-Home Displays are in people’s residences, utilities can offer unprecedented incentives to a consumer for reducing their demand.” said McBride, “Up to now, programs have been mostly all or nothing choices. Time and again consumers have shown they want a choice. They are unwilling to take the risk that they cannot have air conditioning when it may be really needed. The In-Home display attached to the Smart Grid allows consumers the choice to opt-in or opt-out of programs,” said McBride, “something not easily done without the presence of an In-Home Display.”

The Aztech In-Home Display is installed easily by the consumer and is able to calculate the complicated pricing rates designed by utilities to encourage energy conservation. It connects wirelessly to smart utility meters which are part of the Smart Grid.

About Aztech Associates, Inc.

Founded in 1993, Aztech's philosophy is simple: We believe consumers who know the amount and cost of energy they use in real time will make wise decisions to save energy. In-Home Displays benefit our environment and the economy. Studies show overall energy use would drop by 10% if everyone used an In-Home Display. The savings would help utilities avoid using undesirable generator systems. Aztech Associates Inc. is located in Kingston, Ontario, in Canada and Annapolis, Maryland in the US.
For more information, visit Aztech's website at http://www.Aztechinc.com.
Press Release submission By PressReleasePoint

Press Contact:
Gardner McBride
Aztech Associates, Inc
805 Bayridge Drive
Kingston, Ontario K7P 1T5
Canada
905-984-7879
gsmcbride@aztechinc.com
http://www.aztechinc.com