BLUE FOLDER ITEM
Blue folder items are additional back up material to administrative reports and/or public comments received after the printing and distribution of the agenda packet for receive and file.
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
April 12, 2022
N.5 DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION TO STAFF REGARDING THE PARTNERING WITH OHMCONNECT TO BUILD A “VIRTUAL POWER
PLANT”.
CONTACT: MICHAEL W. WEBB, CITY ATTORNEY
Attached is the following document:
• Administrative Report
• Slide 6 of the AES PowerPoint Presentation on March 10, 2022 • Information Sheet on Possible OhmConnect x Redondo Beach Partnership • PowerPoint Presentation
Council Action Date: April 12, 2022
To: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
From: MICHAEL W. WEBB, CITY ATTORNEY
TITLE
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE DIRECTION TO STAFF REGARDING THE PARTNERING WITH OHMCONNECT TO BUILD A “VIRTUAL POWER PLANT”.
BACKGROUND
On March 10, 2022, Lorraine Paskett, the AES Vice President of External Affairs in California, made a presentation before the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. During that presentation, Ms. Paskett stated that “AES is committed to retiring RBGS in 22 months at the end of 2023”. While this is indeed good news that AES is voluntarily committing to retiring the Power Plant there is a caveat. It is possible that State agencies could extend the life of the plant over AES’ wishes.
It is possible to meet any perceived need by the State for energy, after AES retires its plant, by partnering with OhmConnect to build a virtual power plant. If the Council gives that direction, we will work with towards creating an entirely voluntary program for our residents and residents of nearby cities that help meet that need at peak time periods.
COORDINATION
The City Attorney coordinated with the City Manager on this item.
FISCAL IMPACT
A marginal decrease in the amount of User Utility Tax that the City collects as residents use less energy.
Submitted by:
Michael W. Webb
City Attorney
Attachments:
• Slide 6 of the AES PowerPoint Presentation on March 10, 2022 • Information Sheet on Possible OhmConnect x Redondo Beach Partnership • PowerPoint Presentation
Administrative Report
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
1 OhmConnect x Redondo Beach Partnership
Overview:
OhmConnect is a free demand response program for California residents which will pay participating members for energy reductions. These energy reductions occur when the grid is most stressed and reduce the need for peaker power plant generation. As the largest demand response provider in the country, we have gamified the user experience to be highly engaging and rewarding for program participants and provide significant and reliable reductions for power providers. The resulting partnership between OhmConnect and Redondo Beach would grow grid flexibility by boosting program enrollment, resulting in energy benefits ranging from preventing blackouts to avoiding the need for peaker power plant generation. For participating individuals, Redondo Beach residents will see lower utility bills, payments for energy reductions, free smart devices, and an easy way to participate in the clean energy economy.
The Challenge & Opportunity:
Evening demand has created increasing grid volatility in California; this challenge has been compounded in recent years by more frequent heat waves and resulted in blackouts in summer 2020. Beyond grid flexibility, evening demand is a significant inhibitor of achieving a net zero grid as demonstrated by the duck curve. This evening demand is met by peaker power plants, the most expensive, polluting of power resources and the largest threat to environmental justice - such as the one in Redondo Beach. OhmConnect’s demand response program goes beyond others in the state, curbing demand not just during flex alerts when the grid is at risk of blackouts but also when increased demand requires the use of peaker power plants.
As the largest residential demand response provider in the country, OhmConnect has gamified the user experience to be highly engaging and rewarding for program participants and provide significant and reliable reductions.
OhmConnect members can see reductions on the energy bill as well as consistent cash payments for connecting smart home devices to their account. Additionally, OhmConnect members can receive heavily discounted smart devices, which helps the average user save 4.5x more energy during an event than a behavioral-only user. Our partnership would grow OhmConnect’s user base and availability of controllable load, resulting in flexibility when the grid is most stressed. Benefits would include preventing blackouts, avoiding the use of peaker power plants, reducing carbon emissions, and improving air quality.
Case Study:
In September of 2020, California grid operators were on the verge of implementing rolling blackouts to combat the massive energy demand threatening to break the grid as a result of heatwaves. CAISO grid operators called on OhmConnect to pull our resources and implement an OhmHour for immediate energy reduction. We heeded the call, and within 30 minutes, OhmConnect members were deployed and asked to reduce energy. As shown in Figure 1, The actions of OhmConnect members created significant reductions on grid demand and halted the need for blackouts.
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
2 The more members that enroll in OhmConnect, the more steady and reliable impact we can provide the energy grid, with the ultimate goal of removing the need for peaker power plant resources.
OhmConnect Offer: OhmConnect is proposing to partner and co-market our demand response program with Redondo Beach and associated communities and organizations. This program requires no construction, cost, or minimum commitment for Redondo Beach and participating residents. OhmConnect is a free, simple to implement solution to develop grid flexibility. This program will be supported by OhmConnect’s proprietary technology, which facilitates connecting and automating smart devices to the grid, customer communication, customer incentivization, load prediction, and energy reduction calculation. OhmConnect will also supply the following tools and functions necessary to support a successful program, including:
● Marketing content development & strategy
● Customer engagement and enrollment
● Customer support
● Customer incentives and discounted smart devices
● Access to our entire award winning user experience
Redondo Beach Requirements:
Redondo Beach and associated partners will lead outreach for enrolling customers via email, social media and other means appropriate to engage the target audience. OhmConnect will work with Redondo Beach to develop messaging, content, timelines, dashboards, and the necessary strategies necessary to engage city residents.
However, communications will be primarily initiated through the City of Redondo Beach City partner channels.
Program Impact:
The average Redondo Beach resident uses 0.5kW of power on a summer day; this grows to 0.8kW during the evening peak. Participating members can reduce, at minimum, 35% of their electricity use during an OhmHour. The best users can reduce their consumption by 80%. If every household in Redondo Beach participated, this could equal to 9-21 MW of power reduced during peak times.
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
3 The resulting energy reductions would have a measurable impact on:
● Reducing evening peak generation
● Reduce need for peaker power plants
● Reducing GHG output
● Improving air quality
● Reduction of resident electric bills
Customer Offer:
As a unique customer offer for partnering with OhmConnect, all new OhmConnect members that sign up as a result of this partnership can receive the following benefits:
● $10 for completing account sign-up
● Choice of a smart thermostat or two smart plugs for $0.99.
While device automation is optional, customers with a connected device reduce four times the amount of every on average. Additionally, customers with participating connected devices are guaranteed cash payments on a monthly basis.
Save Energy. Get Paid.
OhmConnect & Redondo Beach Partnership
Confidential and Proprietary
Agenda
● City benefits
● Resident benefits
● Working together
OhmConnect Impact
Platform and Product Experience
● Sign-up and experience
● Devices
Partnership Details
● Clean energy
● How we impact the grid
● Case study: 2020 blackouts
Save Energy. Get Paid.
100% Clean Energy for Everyone.
OhmConnect’s mission is to rally people to change how and when they use electricity — unlocking clean, affordable and reliable energy.
Efficient, Asset-Light Alternatives: A Critical Part of The Solution Distributed energy resources can solve grid instability at a fraction of the cost of traditional fossil-fuel based peakers and expensive battery systems
• Available today at scale, software driven
• Zero-carbon; complements storage, EVs
• No state subsidy and not rate-based
• Works with current grid infastructure
Peaker Plants
Gas Fired Single Cycle
• Decommissioning across U.S.
• Cost prohibitive to build
• Rate-based to consumer
Battery Storage
Large Scale Lithium Ion
• Novel clean hardware
• Limited near-term supply
• Competing uses
• High costs – uncompetitive in some markets High Cost / Asset Heavy Cost-Efficient / Asset Light Virtual Power Plant (VPP)
Distributed homes connected to the grid
4 Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
We get people excited about energy
OhmConnect is a free
service that pays users to
reduce energy when it is
most needed
Our gamified demand response program engages families across California Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
6 Flexibility, Reliability, and Clean Energy Solved with the Home OhmConnect utilizes its proprietary technology to aggregate user demand reductions and deliver a predictable, reliable and dispatchable generation source to the grid.
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
OhmConnect keeps customers engaged during Flex Alerts
Our users helped keep the lights on last summer, and we’re looking to 2x the impact this summer Experience
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
OhmConnect customers have a simple automated experience It is easy to sign up and set up your first device, and start saving immediately Save energy.
Get paid.
Sign Up Sign up
$64.21
Signing up takes
1 minute
Connect smart device
in less than 5 minutes
Cash out via
your choice 1 2 4
Automatically
Save Energy 3
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
OhmConnect platform is engaging and rewarding
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc.
The end-to-end consumer experience uses devices to create strong engagement, virality, and retention Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
A marketplace built with the customer in mind
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc.
Users can pick what to redeem their energy savings for — from prizes, to devices, cash, and more Already integrated with largest tech & appliance companies We have developed unique and proprietary partnerships with device manufacturers. 12 Our suite of smart home devices include
industry leaders such as Google, Ecobee,
TP-Link, and more.
These devices are connected to the
OhmConnect Platform and are responsive to
real-time and day-ahead curtailment events.
Members always have control over their
devices, and are notified at each energy
automation occurrence.
On average, having one smart
appliance increases energy
savings by 4.5x
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
Keys to unlocking enrollment and engagement
● Mobile-first, meet users where they’re at
● Simple onboarding, developing trust and understanding ● Smart devices that are integrated into the core loop
● Reward for both manual and automated energy savings
● User control and preferences around energy events
● Engaging experience that drives retention and virtuous rewards Years of experimentation to unlock consumer behavior change and demystify a complicated service Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
World Class Customer Experience Team
We make it easy for our customers to find resources and ask a real person for help
➔ Our Customer Experience team is the lifeblood of OhmConnect and is available for live chat, email assistance, and outbound phone conversations
➔ We can help customers on anything from connecting their utility account to installing a smart device
➔ OhmConnect.com/help is easy to navigate and full of resources 14 Partnership
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
Create value for Redondo Beach
Together, we can bring more value and long-lasting support to the community 16 Reduce Emissions
Eliminate Need for
Peaker Plants Improve Air Quality
Create Grid Resiliency
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
What is in it for your customers?
Cash Incentive
&
$0.99 devices
Empowerment
&
Energy Savings
Prizes
&
Rewards
$10
Sign-Up
Bonus
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
OhmConnect 2022 Engagement 18
Program Activation
Outreach to residents all year long
OhmConnect will create all content customized for Redondo Beach, with a targeted campaign to counteract the Redondo Beach Power Plant
○ Email
○ Social Media
○ Flyers/Mail
○ Board & City Council
○ Website
○ Unique Comms
No sweat - we can create all content, timelines, reminders, and support needed
Dashboard to keep you updated on your progress
OhmConnect will use Redondo Beach’s story across the state to fuel action and engagement
Save Energy. Get Paid.
For more information, please contact:
Leah Goodman: [email protected]
Confidential and Proprietary
Confidential and Proprietary of OhmConnect, Inc
20 → Over 1,200 Free Thermostat and Smart Plugs Installed → More than 100,000 Impressions for SJCE and Free Offer OhmConnect Partner Case Study
Confidential and Proprietary
SJCE Partnership
SJCE partnered with OhmConnect to developed
an approach to enable their customers to be
part of a solution by deploying smart
thermostats and empowering users to earn
rewards.
● Email and social media campaign
● Direct Mail to over 50,000 residents
● Profile on SJCE homepage
Website
Email Social