The Mercury smart thermostat platform gives Gibson EMC (located in western Tennessee) and Mid-South Synergy (located in eastern Texas) the ability to manage peak residential heating and cooling loads by adjusting customers’ thermostats to use less energy during times of high demand. The utilities’ customers can adjust and program their thermostats from anywhere through EnergyHub’s web and mobile apps, and they receive real-time feedback on the cost impacts of their selections.

“We chose the Mercury platform because of the opportunity it provides our member-owners to better understand and manage their home heating and cooling energy usage while helping Gibson EMC reduce system peak demand,” said Charles Phillips, Vice President of Engineering and IT at Gibson Electric Membership Corporation. “Because the customer directly benefits from using the Mercury platform, it will be easier for GEMC to grow the size of our load control program, while also keeping our members motivated to use their thermostats to save money.”

“For over 70 years, Mid-South Synergy has focused on providing quality service to our members at a reasonable price,” said Daniel Bethapudi, Chief Financial Officer at Mid-South Synergy. “We’re excited to work with EnergyHub to deploy the Mercury platform. Mercury will help reduce Mid-South’s peak load while providing our members with thermostat remote control and energy efficiency benefits, providing a great combination of cost-effective benefits to the cooperative.”

Both cooperatives will begin deploying Mercury-connected thermostats and managing peak-time load this summer. Participating co-op members will receive wireless thermostats and access to web and mobile (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Android) applications for programming their thermostats and optimizing their air conditioning and heating settings. Employees of the cooperatives will use the Mercury cloud-hosted demand response management system (DRMS) to manage the thermostat program, execute direct load control events, and monitor program performance.

“We are thrilled to be working with Gibson EMC and Mid-South Synergy to bring energy-saving wireless thermostat technology to these co-ops and their members,” said Matt Johnson, Director of Business Development at EnergyHub. “The Mercury smart thermostat platform and its DRMS are helping these co-ops lower their operating costs, which allows them to pass savings along to their member-owners. We’re excited to add these two co-ops to the over 100,000 Mercury-compatible thermostats already in the market, and we look forward to working with them to grow their programs in the future,” Johnson said.

Heating and cooling costs make up nearly half of the average annual energy bill, which is $2,200 for a U.S. single-family home. Research shows that real-time feedback and control using products like the web and mobile applications for the EnergyHub’s Mercury smart thermostat platform can help consumers save up to 20 percent on their monthly energy bills.

About EnergyHub
EnergyHub, Inc. develops software and hardware solutions that help consumers, utilities, and service providers reduce energy consumption and save money. EnergyHub solutions allow homeowners to understand and control energy use in real time and encourage people to take actionable steps to reduce consumption. Utilities also benefit from EnergyHub technology as it enables them to identify and manage peak loads, implement effective demand response programs, and improve operating efficiency.

EnergyHub, based in Brooklyn, New York, is a privately held, venture-backed company, and is deploying its technology with a variety of utilities and service providers across North America. For more information on how EnergyHub can help your customers realize savings through energy efficiency visit www.energyhub.com.

About Gibson Electric Membership Corporation
Gibson Electric Membership Corporation is a nonprofit and member-owned electric utility. Its mission is simply to provide its members with safe and reliable electric service at an affordable price. Gibson EMC serves 35,000 customer-owners over 2,900 miles of line in eight Northwest Tennessee counties (Crockett, Dyer, Gibson, Haywood, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison and Obion).

About Mid-South Synergy
Founded in 1940, Mid-South Synergy provides electricity, water and wastewater service and Internet support to its member-owners. Its “margin over cost” is either put back to run the business efficiently, or is returned to its members. Headquartered in Navasota, TX, the company serves customers in Grimes, Montgomery, Madison, Walker, Brazos and Waller counties.