We hope you will join our efforts to help reduce the Town’s summer electrical peak and the cost of electricity to all Concordians. By reducing our electricity use during peak hours, everyone benefits with lower electric rates and a cleaner environment as the least efficient electric generating plants operate during peaks to provide enough capacity.

Thirty percent of your electric bill is directly related to the amount of electricity Concord uses for just one hour during the entire year. That one hour, the peak demand hour, occurs on a hot weekday afternoon during the summer months from June 1st to September 15th typically between the hours of 12PM – 6PM. 

How you can help 

We ask you to voluntarily reduce your use of electricity when a peak electric demand hour is predicted. Please follow us on Twitter @CMLPmedia or join our Google Group CMLP-CAP (send an email with the subject and body blank) to receive notification when a peak demand hour is expected.

We will  send a message to the Google Group, our Twitter followers, and the Town website the day before we believe a peak is POSSIBLE or LIKELY. At that point you can decide to voluntarily reduce your electricity use during the predicted peak. 

Here are ways you can reduce your electricity use during the peak: 

• turn up your AC several degrees or use fans instead
• turn off or dim lights anywhere they are not needed
• make sure all windows are closed and shades drawn
• do not use pool pumps, washers, dryers, dehumidifiers or during the load shedding hours.
• plan a cold picnic supper or cook dinner on the grill
• use a timer for appliances with the capability to avoid operation during peak hours
• use smart power strips to turn off multiple devices with one touch
• do not charge an EV during a peak demand event 
• Get an energy assessment for your home or business to see if there are more electricity-saving opportunities.Find out more information here: http://www.concordma.gov/1751/Energy-Management-Renewable-Energy-Effic  

If possible, it is a good idea to minimize electricity use 2 hours before and 2 hours after the predicted peak so that we have a better chance of hitting the peak demand hour. We will do our best to minimize the number of POSSIBLE and LIKELY calls that we make during the summer. 

Learn more about the summer peak electricity demand

CMLP collaborates with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council's Clean Energy division* and other municipal utilities in predicting when a peak demand hour is possible. The MAPC has an excellent Peak Electricity Demand webinar and Peak Electricity Demand presentation slides on why it matters that we reduce our consumption during the Independent System Operator’s summer peak electricity usage hour of the year. Included in the presentation slides are additional examples of successful capacity tag reduction not covered in the webinar. 

*MAPC is the regional planning agency serving the cities and towns of Metropolitan Boston, promoting smart growth and regional collaboration. MAPC's Clean Energy division provides technical assistance to communities and comprehensive energy planning while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuel consumption in the Commonwealth. 

Share your Ideas

Do you have more ways to reduce electricity usage on peak demand days? Let us know by emailing your ideas to concordutilities@concordma.gov so we can share your ideas. 

Share the Word

Follow CMLP on Twitter @CMLPmedia. Also, family and friends in Concord can subscribe to the Google Group by sending an email with the subject and body blank to the Google Group subscription address.Google Groups will reply requesting verification of the request. This is a one-way email system so members can only receive emails from this site. 

Thank you for helping to reduce the summer peak demand and keep Concord’s electric rates competitive.