Virtual Commissioning™ Program

Award category

Innovation

Year released

2020

Partnering with Power TakeOff to deliver its Virtual Commissioning™ (VCx™) Program, ComEd has successfully leveraged its Grid Modernization investment to implement a cost-effective, scalable, and measurable energy efficiency solution for SMB and public institution accounts. These hard-to-reach customer segments represent more than 90% of all non-residential accounts for ComEd.

Using newly available interval meter data, the program remotely identifies and crafts personalized, site-specific energy efficiency recommendations. Each commissioning opportunity is individually reviewed with the targeted prospect, who is encouraged and taught how to adjust the operations of their existing equipment to save energy. ComEd provides the VCx™ service at no charge to the customer as the program incentive, and there are no enrollment forms, on-site visits, or financial commitments, making participation as easy as possible. The VCx™ program is also entirely evaluated using M&V 2.0 statistical methodology.

The VCx™ Program has grown substantially from its 2 GWh savings achievement in 2017 to 8 GWh in 2018 and an estimated 15 GWh for 2019. On average, participants have realized 13.8% annualized savings by implementing no to low-cost energy efficiency opportunities. In addition, more than 80% of local SMB participants have never previously participated in a ComEd energy efficiency offering. The short participation cycle, approximately one month, has also enabled ComEd to increase VCx™ Program saving targets mid-year to help accommodate portfolio needs.