Over the course of the winter, there will be up to 12 demand response events. During them, Yukon Energy will remotely adjust all of the participating peak-shifting thermostats and controllers by a couple of degrees for a brief period of time – small changes you probably won’t even notice but can add up to make a big impact on the Yukon electrical grid.
Demand response events are where all the movement happens. Up to 12 times each winter, before a peak in electricity use is expected, Yukon Energy will remotely control your peak-shifting devices. The temperature will go down by 1-3 degrees Celsius and stay there for short periods of time (about 2-3 hours). These short, minor adjustments of temperature should have little to no impact on the comfort of your home. But it will make a big difference in shifting peak demands on the grid. You’ll be sent an email before each demand response event so you’ll know what’s about to happen. Opting out of the demand response event will always be an option for you. If it isn’t a good time for the temperature to be lowered, then we won’t lower your temperature.
First, we’ll ask you some questions to confirm that your home has everything it needs to receive a peak-shifting device. If it does, we’ll then ask if you’re okay with:
a. participating in demand response events over the winter, and
b. Yukon Energy controlling your peak-shifting thermostats and hot water tank controller a few hours before a peak.
If you agree, we’ll work with you to set up a day and time that’s good for an electrical contractor to install the device(s) in your home.
Never! You will always be in complete control of your thermostats whether during a demand response event, or otherwise. While the demand response events can make remote adjustments to your devices, you as the homeowner will always have ultimate control over them.
Right now, we foresee 12 demand response events each winter over the next two years. We’re calling this our pilot phase. By piloting the program first, we’re hoping to get a better sense of how much peak demand we’re actually able to shift and how participants feel about the program. Depending on the success of the pilot, we may extend the program beyond two years.
We expect about 12 events over the course of each winter season.
Once the program is finished, the devices are yours to keep and use! Continue to reap the benefits of having smart technology for years to come.
Yukon Energy will never control the installed devices outside of the scheduled events, and you will always be notified of an event beforehand.
The demand response events shift energy usage as opposed to reducing it, so your electrical bill should remain about the same. The thermostats do have some added features that you can use to manage your energy use and reduce your bills if you would like to take advantage of those.
Your first point of contact will be the Peak Smart customer service team. They will help direct you to the best resources to deal with the issues you are having. They may be able to help you directly, or you may be forwarded to our team of electricians, or the manufacturers of the devices themselves. Rest assured, we’ll help you resolve any problems you might experience.
Definitely! This program is rolling out on a completely voluntary basis. While we believe you’ll appreciate being a part of our effort to help manage electricity demands in Yukon, you’re free to opt out at any time.
That’s one of the best parts of this program – it’s totally free!
Call 867-633-7000 to speak to a representative and register for the program. We will coordinate a date and time with you to have a certified electrician come to your home to install the thermostats. Supplies are limited though, so call today — first come first serve!
AN ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANT MUST:
*devices running iOS 13 are not currently supported.
ELIGIBLE RESIDENCES MUST BE:
Participants that rent their properties are still eligible to participate, as long as their landlord signs a Landlord Consent Form. In the same way, residents of condominiums are eligible to participate if they submit a Condominium Board Consent Form.
This program is offered in all Yukon communities connected to the grid.
You do not need to sign-up for both devices. You can pick the hot water tank controller and/or the peak-shifting thermostats.
If you don’t have electric baseboard heat, but you do have an electric hot water tank, you may still be eligible to participate – refer to the eligibility requirements earlier in this FAQ to double check whether you qualify.
The hot water tank controllers we’ll be using in this program are designed specifically for use with electric hot water tanks. So, if yours uses a different source of fuel, you won’t be eligible for the hot water tank controller portion of the program. However, that doesn’t exclude you from being able to participate with your electric baseboard heater thermostats.
Your home does not need to be exclusively heated electrically in order to participate in the program but electricity needs to be your primary source of heat. We completely understand that many of our customers supplement their home heating needs with wood; it’s a Yukon thing and a wonderful comfort in our colder months!
The first thing you’ll get are the peak-shifting thermostats, a peak-shifting hot water tank controller, or both. A qualified electrician will install them in your home. After that, you’ll get the comfort knowing that you’re taking an active part in reducing our reliance on energy sources like liquefied natural gas and diesel and contributing to a more secure energy future for Yukon.
Each device that is installed at your home will need to be linked to your CaSA account. This configuration process is only done using the CaSA smartphone app. While actually operating the devices doesn’t really require a smartphone, it’s necessary to get them set up for the first time.
They do! The smart devices we install in your home will function with either iOS or Android smart phones and tablets.
The app lets you control the temperature of your home, or individual rooms, from one central place — whether you’re home or not! It allows you to program set schedules of when you want thermostats to raise or lower the temperature based on when you know people will be around. You can even monitor the amount of electricity being used by your baseboard heaters or hot water tank. The app is a tool that lets you take control of energy use in your home!
Installations will start in November and continue until we meet our target number of 400 households with peak-shifting devices in them.
Installation times will vary based on how many devices will be installed in your home. For some, installation could be 10 minutes, and for others having more devices installed, it could take 30 minutes.
Installation will all be done by licensed and certified electricians from Arcrite Northern Ltd, a trusted company that has been serving industrial, commercial and residential customers across northern Canada since 1979.
Yes, absolutely. Individuals installing the devices in your home are professional electricians who, as standard part of their employment, have passed Criminal Record Checks and other high-level screening clearances.
Once your installation has been scheduled, all you’ll really need to do to prepare is to make sure that the electricians have a clear path to where they’ll be working – this means ensuring there is a clear path to your hot water tank, and no obstructions in front of your wall-mounted baseboard thermostats (plants, furniture, etc.).
Before any demand response event, you will be sent an email letting you know when the event will take place. The email will also give you the opportunity to opt out of the event before it happens. If you choose to opt out of an event, the peak shifting devices in your home won’t be controlled before or during the demand response event.
You will ALWAYS have ultimate control of the installed devices. While the demand response events do involve remotely making minor temperature adjustments to your baseboard heaters and hot water tanks for short periods of time, you can always override them.
Each device will transmit about 25-30 MB of data each month. This is a rough estimate, and it will vary depending how often you end up using the app and making adjustments to your devices. While the impact is quite minimal to even the most limited cable internet plans, you will be responsible for maintaining your own internet connection during the program.
After all the events for the season have run, and we’ve analyzed the results, we’ll let participants know what sorts of impacts these peak-shifting devices have had.
While the season of events is running, we’ll be able to provide minor, general updates, but until we have the results of all of the events together, we won’t be able to provide a fully accurate report on how the pilot worked.
As you sign up for the program, some personal information like your name, address, phone number, and number of thermostats in your house, will be collected.
This information is necessary for us to properly schedule the installation of your new devices. The only data that will be collected from the installed devices is the temperatures that each device is set at, and when those temperatures change. This data allows us to learn more about people’s home heating trends in order to more effectively design our demand response events in the future. Your personal information, and the data collected from the devices installed in your home, will not be associated with each other.
Rest assured, the data we collect from your peak-shifting thermostat and controller will be collected anonymously. It will only be associated with a unique identifier that’s stored separately from your personal information. All data will be securely stored within Canada.