Here in California, we know all too well that summer days can put a strain on our electricity grid. This is especially true on the hottest weekday afternoons, when air conditioners are working their hardest and office buildings are full of employees.

In response, as part of our climate and sustainability efforts at Yahoo!, we are partnering with Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) to reduce electricity demand on the hottest days of the year (like today).

When a demand response event happens, the Yahoo! facilities team is alerted by PG&E. Then we let Yahoos know that we’ll be letting our buildings run slightly warmer, and turning off lights that are decorative or near windows.

When we got the call for an event during an unseasonably hot day in May, we were able to reduce our electricity consumption on campus by 13.5% . That’s enough to power roughly 750 California homes. A second event came in July, when temperatures outside reached 95 degrees.

What’s the impact of these kinds of programs? They avoid the need to build additional and costly “peaking” power plants that sit idle 90% of the time except during extreme demand spikes. It’s actually cheaper to reduce energy than to build power plants. In turn, they avoid greenhouse gas emissions (and air pollution) during the curtailment period. It can also help avoid potential blackouts.

During the event, we encouraged our employees to watch how our actions affected our power load in real time via our Green Screen, an online energy monitoring dashboard that tracks energy consumption building by building at our Sunnyvale headquarters. You can see an image below of the results, with a drop-off in energy use starting at 2PM.

Yahoos also received free compact fluorescent light bulbs to help them save money (over $37 per bulb!) and energy at home, along with light bulb recycling information and energy savings tips from Flex Your Power, a state-sponsored energy savings campaign.

If you aren’t a Yahoo! you can still do your part to reduce energy use at peak periods at home. Set thermostats at 78 degrees in the summer, to reduce the load on your air conditioner; shutoff unnecessary lighting; and use appliances like coffee makers, laundry machines, and processing equipment either before noon or after 7 pm.

For more info on saving energy at work and at home, check out Flex Your Power.

Chris Page
Director, Climate and Energy Strategy