Various Utility Companies are offering current
Account Holders in
Select States:
Google Nest Thermostat or Nest Learning Thermostat on sale for prices listed below. Shipping may vary by location and provider.
Thanks to Staff Member
DLS4U for sharing this deal.
Offer Notes:
- Rebate amounts and requirements vary depending on the utility provider; requirements may include enrollment in rewards/savings programs. Other limitations & eligibility requirements may apply, e.g., connection to central AC.
Example Participating Locations/Services (prices below after all rebates & discounts, which may require enrollment in a savings/rewards program):
- Arizona:
- Arizona Public Service Electric (APS):
- Salt River Project (SRP):
- California:
- Glendale Water & Power (GWP):
- Los Angeles Department of Water & Power:
- PG&E
- Connecticut:
- Illinois:
- Indiana:
- Michigan:
- Consumers Energy Residential:
- New Jersey:
- AtlanticCity Electric
- JCP&L
- Elizabethtown Gas
- New Jersey Natural Gas
- Orange & Rockland New Jersey
- PSEG
- South Jersey Gas
- New Mexico
- New York
- PSE&G Long Island
- ConEdison
- National Grid Long Island
- National Grid Metro
- National Grid Upstate
- National Grid Upstate Small Business
- NYSEG
- Orange & Rockland
- PSE&G Long Island
- RG&E
- North Carolina
- Duke Energy residential
- Duke Energy small business
- NCEMC
- Ohio
- Columbia Gas of Ohio
- AES Ohio (DP&L)
- Oregon
- Portland General Electric
- Pennsylvania
- DLC
- PPL
- PECO
- UGI (Smart Save)
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Dominion Energy
- Duke Energy residential
- Duke Energy small business
- Texas
- El Paso Electric
- Xcel Energy Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
- Puget Sound Energy
- Snohomish PUD
- Wisconsin
Top Comments
First - no, the utilities are generally not "controlling" your thermostat. The situation these commenters are referring to is called demand response (DR). Where the utilities will pay their consumers to shift or reduce their demand during times of grid strain to reduce the likelihood of brown or blackouts. For this to happen you need to enroll in the DR program itself, you'll know if you're doing this. Utilities can't just enroll you without your notice.
Second - even if you are in one of these DR programs, you absolutely always have final control over your thermostat and temperature setting. You ALWAYS have the option to opt-out of DR events and keep your thermostat or AC humming along at whatever temperature you want. Yes, if you're enrolled in one of these DR programs and you opt-out, your electric bill may be higher. But that's the whole point. If the utility is offering free stuff (like a thermostat) and ongoing revenue to participate in a DR program, but you opt-out of actually participating? It hurts the utility (and the rest of the grid for that matter), who was expecting you to provide relief so there is some financial incentives there.
I'm just tried of people sensationalizing this stuff. Geeze.
My experience here is as someone who helps implement some of these types of programs for a few utilities around the country. I predominately work with commercial and industrial customers but interact with the residential side of things as well.
It's not about data mining for the utility. They don't get that visibility with any demand response programs. Does google for their nest product? Sure, but that's different than what other folks have being talking about here as google isn't offering the rebate. It's about the utility having an incentive to encourage you to use less energy, that's why they offer rebates and discounts on these things.
143 Comments
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I never said every utility requires enrollment in such a program. But there are some utilities that do require participation in such a program to get the best prices on the thermostats.
For example, with Iowa's Alliant Energy, to get the best price on the Learning Thermostat, $39.50, you must enroll in their "Smart Hours" program. You can pay more, $89.50, and are not required to enroll in the program.
There are others that do not require participation in the connected solutions program, but will offer additional incentives to those who do. For example, Connecticut's Eversource will give you a $25 gift card for enrolling and an additional $20 gift card for each year you remain enrolled.
And, as you noted, there are some utilities who have no requirements to get the deals.
I could have said "misleading" instead of "sensationalizing." I wanted to add some real context to the situation as nothing is ever so black and white and writing a comment implying that it is (by omitting the nuance) is misleading to anyone who isn't already familiar with the details.
Worth 55 for the basic nest
I gave up
If you have privacy concerns or can't stand to have your house above 60 degrees during a heatwave, this may not be for you.
One other small perk is when you go on vacation, you can set it really high (like 85 summer 50 winter or so). Then turn it back on when you start heading back. Come home to a nice cool house and still get the savings.
As to why the energy companies offer this, people like me are also helping them out, even if they don't control my thermostat during peak usage. I never wanted to tinker with a thermostat if I was going to be gone for a day and come home to an uncomfortable house, but now I do as I can come home to a comfortable house. I also didn't want to tinker with the settings when schedules changed, so I kept them constant.
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I could have said "misleading" instead of "sensationalizing." I wanted to add some real context to the situation as nothing is ever so black and white and writing a comment implying that it is (by omitting the nuance) is misleading to anyone who isn't already familiar with the details.
I said nothing of the sort.
The words you put in "quotation marks" appear nowhere in my original post. Nowhere. You completely made that up.
My exact words were (and this is a correct usage of quotation marks) "Beware, that some utilities will require you to allow them to control the thermostat during peak usage periods in order to get the discounted price."
I said nothing of the sort.
The words you put in "quotation marks" appear nowhere in my original post. Nowhere. You completely made that up.
My exact words were (and this is a correct usage of quotation marks) "Beware, that some utilities will require you to allow them to control the thermostat during peak usage periods in order to get the discounted price."
CA PGE, i opted out of their time of use program
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TIA, repp for assistance!