You upgrade your computers and other office equipment periodically so when was the last time your business upgraded its electric meter?

Well you are not alone; as with most commercial businesses electric meters have not been touched since their initial installation. Not to worry though, your local electric company will soon bring your electric meter into the 21st century as a Smart Meter.

These new meters will help provide their customers with detailed consumption breakdowns and communicate information back to the utility for monitoring and billing.  They will help match consumption with generation, and promise major energy savings by changing how and when we use electricity.

Soon you will be able to:

• Monitor, track, and adjust real-time energy usage.
• Get more accurate billing to create better utility expense forecasts.
• Quickly identify energy hogs allowing for consumption adjustment to assist in lowering bills
• With real-time pricing, you may choose to run certain business processes based on off-peak pricing
• Depending on your type of business you may benefit by shifting working hours based on lower energy prices.
• Calculate an ROI for making a decision for an investment in an alternative energy solution like solar or wind for your business.

The smart meter/grid is rapidly progressing so begin today to start learning about how you can incorporate it into your business to save money.

A Practecol Solution

You can increase your dryer heat circulation to reduce drying time by 15% and save energy costs. These heat-resistant dryer balls lift and separate your clothes to better circulate heat, reducing drying time and lowering energy costs.

Keep a Closer Eye on Your Electric Usage

Many millions of dollars are being spent to install smart meters that alert utility customers to the minute-by-minute price of the electricity they are using at home. The goal is that consumers will adjust their use of power based upon its cost during varies times of the day. However this assumes they remember to check the meter before pressing an “on” button. The “edot” is a smart-meter display that can be stuck directly onto most appliances, like your refrigerator, with a built-in magnet. It communicates wirelessly with the smart meter, and its ultra-low-power radio link means that consumers never change its batteries. It is expected that each edot’s battery will last between five and seven years. For more information on it see Talon Communications.

FedEx Introduces First All-Electric Trucks To Be Used in the U.S. Parcel Delivery Business

FedEx Corp. recently introduced the first all-electric FedEx parcel delivery trucks in the United States. Four purpose-built electric trucks—optimized for electric operation from the wheels up—are slated to hit the road in the Los Angeles area starting in June 2010, joining more than 1,800 alternative-energy vehicles already in service for FedEx around the world.

Rather than creating its own proprietary technology, FedEx turned to the marketplace to spur solutions that can rapidly be scaled up to provide affordable and reliable service to a wide range of delivery truck operators. It is purchasing its first North American all-electric vehicles from two different suppliers to evaluate the robustness of this technology for demanding daily FedEx Express deliveries in the Los Angeles area and provide information to help guide future FedEx vehicle purchases.

Two of the new all-electric trucks come from Navistar, and are being assembled in Indiana. These are based on the Modec design already operated by FedEx in Europe. Another pair of electric vehicles is being purchased from a different manufacturer for delivery to the Los Angeles area later in 2010. Both sets of electric vehicles are designed with a range that allows many FedEx Express couriers to make a full eight-hour shift of deliveries before their vehicles need recharging. To read more about see FedEx Sustainable Initiatives.

UK Based Company on the Right Track for Home/Office Energy Monitoring

There are numerous sensor devices entering the market but this particular on is the one we believe is on the right path to giving you the capability and intelligence to modify your energy use habits. It is way more effective than just having a “smart meter” which will benefit the power company more than it will the consumer. Enter Green Energy Options, a new an innovative business dedicated to helping people use energy more efficiently, to cut the carbon emissions, and to move toward renewable energy sources.

How does the system work?

A set of low cost movable sensors are connected to any electrical supply or appliance. The information gathered is presented on a range of displays from PCs to independent corridor displays in a way that brings the information to life in a useful easy to interpret way.

The system is modular and people will generally start by using a relatively small kit. This enables the home/business owner to run an initial set of energy tests, engaging in practical and lasting improvements for the home or office. More modules can be added at anytime. See their site at Green Energy Options for more info on the types of displays and PC software they offer. Although the products are not currently available in the United States they look to expand here very soon as they widen their distribution beyond the UK.

Worthy of a look!