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Protect your electricity bill from costly peak demand charges with our Peak Demand Management feature. When your home’s power use gets close your utility’s peak demand threshold, the system automatically adjusts your connected devices to keep usage below the limit, preventing significant increases to your monthly bills.
Peak demand is the highest amount of electricity your home uses at any given moment. Think of it like the maximum speed you drive on a road trip—it’s not your average speed, but the fastest you went.
Some utilities charge extra fees based on your peak demand because they need to keep expensive power plants ready to handle everyone’s highest usage moments. It’s like paying for the biggest table at a restaurant, even if you only use it once.
Most utilities measure your peak demand using a 15-minute average, so even a brief spike in usage can impact your entire month’s bill.
Let’s say your home typically uses about 2 kW of power—enough to run your refrigerator, lights, and everyday essentials—and your utility has a peak demand threshold of 5 kW.
Now imagine several high-energy activities happen at once—maybe your air conditioner is running hard on a hot day while your EV is charging and you’re doing laundry. Your home’s energy usage suddenly jumps to 8 kW.
Since you exceeded that 5 kW threshold (even for just one 15-minute window), your utility will charge you the higher peak demand rate on your entire month’s electricity bill. This single spike could add hundreds of dollars to your monthly costs.
To get started with Peak Demand Management, you’ll need the following:
Vue Energy Monitor (installed in your electric panel)
Emporia App
One or more connected devices (EV chargers, smart plugs, and more)
Once you activate Peak Demand Management, our platform does the heavy lifting:
The Vue Home Energy Monitor tracks your home’s real-time electricity consumption from your electric panel.
The system identifies when usage is approaching your utility’s peak demand threshold (or your manually set threshold).
Connected devices are automatically adjusted based on your priority settings to keep overall energy use below peak demand.
The system continues to manages devices as energy use changes throughout the day.
When utilities detect high power usage, they sometimes charge increased rates for your entire month’s electricity. Our Peak Demand Management feature automatically keeps your energy use below these levels, potentially saving you hundreds of dollars on a single bill by preventing brief usage spikes from triggering higher rates.
Our intelligent system manages your devices according to your priorities, temporarily adjusting connected devices while keeping your running smoothly. High-priority devices continue running normally while lower-priority appliances can be temporarily turned off to keep total power use below peak thresholds.
With the Emporia App, setting up Peak Demand Management is simple. Connect your Vue monitor, establish your peak threshold, and prioritize your devices in order of importance. Once configured, the system automatically manages your energy usage to prevent costly peak charges without sacrificing home comfort.
The Vue Home Energy Monitor provides real-time data on your home’s electricity consumption. When usage approaches your defined threshold, the system takes action to prevent exceeding it.
The system automatically adjusts connected devices according to your priority settings. Lower-priority devices are temporarily paused or reduced in power to keep total consumption below the threshold.
Yes, the Emporia app allows you to enable management for specific devices and set priorities that determine which devices are adjusted first when approaching peak thresholds.
The following devices can be controlled using the Peak Demand Management feature:
Emporia EV Chargers: Can be configured to adjust charging rates or pause when approaching peak thresholds
Emporia Smart Plugs: Can be set to temporarily turn off when approaching peak thresholds
Compatible smart thermostats: Can adjust temperature settings to reduce HVAC load during potential peak periods
Other controllable smart devices: Works with supported appliances to manage power consumption
