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United Illuminating announces successful income-eligible water heater program in partnership with EnergyHub and Rheem

Kat O'Leary

June 25, 2019

New York, NY – June 25, 2019 – United Illuminating (UI), a subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc., EnergyHub, and Rheem, are pleased to announce early success in the utility’s Home Energy Solutions – Income Eligible program.

As part of an innovative grid management strategy, UI is using EnergyHub’s Mercury distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) to aggregate, monitor, and leverage customer-deployed Rheem® intelligent heat pump water heaters for demand response events.

United Illuminating logo

The program has broadened UI’s demand response portfolio while creating potential for the company to use heat pump water heaters for other grid services in the future. UI is already using Mercury to manage its Bring Your Own Thermostat® demand response program, Smart Savers Rewards.

“The EnergyHub platform’s integration with Rheem’s intelligent heat pump water heaters opens up a range of possibilities for UI to reduce peak demand and better manage the grid,” said William Riddle, Residential Energy Manager, UI. “This program is a wonderful way to provide some of our customers with ENERGY STAR® certified heat pump water heaters while simultaneously helping us manage peak demand. The results are positive for our customers and UI.”

Income-eligible UI customers may apply for a no-cost home energy assessment via the utility’s website. Upon completion of the energy assessment, if approved, UI will install a Wi-Fi enabled Rheem intelligent heat pump water heater in qualifying customers’ homes at no cost. Replacing customers’ old, less efficient electric resistance water heaters with Rheem intelligent heat pump water heaters can potentially save customers up to 50 percent on electric water heating costs, as well as help the utility meet its conservation targets.

“We’re excited that UI is adding Rheem heat pump water heaters to the devices it controls using the Mercury DERMS,” said Seth Frader-Thompson, President and Co-founder of EnergyHub. “This program combines all the best aspects of a DER program: It’s helping United Illuminating better manage the grid, it’s using best-in-class hardware with Rheem intelligent heat pump water heaters and the leading connected thermostat companies, and it’s helping customers upgrade their homes.”

The intelligent heat pump water heater pilot program is one of several new distributed energy resource programs EnergyHub is launching in 2019 — signaling utilities’ commitment to leveraging a growing variety of behind-the-meter distributed energy resources for demand-side management programs.

“We are 100-percent committed to sustainability and developing innovative products and solutions to help homeowners efficiently manage their energy and water use,” said John Fitzgerald, Executive Vice President, Operations at Rheem. “Our EcoNet® smart connected product integration with EnergyHub’s platform gives UI — and dozens of utilities around the country — the ability to reduce peak demand and help their customers save money on utility bills. It’s a partnership we’re very proud of.”

You can learn more about the HES-IE program by visiting UI’s website.

About EnergyHub

EnergyHub is the connected device solution for utilities. EnergyHub’s Mercury DERMS allows utilities to partner with their customers to deliver more powerful demand response and grid services using the industry’s leading ecosystem of connected devices and distributed energy resources. Our Bring Your Own Thermostat® service makes millions of existing connected homes available to utilities for demand response without a single truck roll. Dozens of utilities rely on EnergyHub to deliver critical demand response services. EnergyHub is an independent subsidiary of Alarm.com (NASDAQ: ALRM), the leading platform for the intelligently connected property. For more information, visit www.energyhub.com.

About UI

The United Illuminating Company (UI) is a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. Established in 1899, UI operates approximately 3,500 miles of electric distribution lines and 139 miles of transmission lines. It serves approximately 335,000 customers in the greater New Haven and Bridgeport areas of Connecticut. For more information, visit www.uinet.com.

About Rheem®

Founded in 1925, Rheem® innovates all-new ways to deliver just the right temperature while saving energy, water and supporting a more sustainable future. Today, Rheem is America’s #1 water heating brand, and its products are available in more than 50 countries. Paloma Co., Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan, acquired the iconic Rheem brand in 1988, and today the company’s portfolio of premium brands include Rheem®, Raypak®, Ruud®, Eemax®, Richmond®, Splendid®, Solahart® and EverHot™ as well as commercial refrigeration brands Russell®, Witt®, ColdZone® and Kramer®, which are part of the Heat Transfer Products Group (HTPG®) division. *All are Trademarks of Rheem Manufacturing Company. www.Rheem.com

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