20th PLMA Award Winner - Thought Leader: 

CPS Energy with EnergyHub

PLMA Trophy 

The FlexEV Smart Rewards and the FlexEV Off-Peak Rewards Programs

CPS Energy charts a path for utilities to maximize the impact of their EV programs 

In 2022, CPS Energy simultaneously launched two innovative EV/SE managed charging programs for residential customers:

  1. The FlexEV Smart Rewards, a direct load control program where customers agree to let CPS Energy make remote adjustments to their charging during peak hours; and

  2. The FlexEV Off Peak Rewards, a passive program where customers earn incentives for shifting their charging off-peak.

By deploying these program designs simultaneously, CPS Energy provides a roadmap for the industry, demonstrating that utilities can maximize the impact of their EV programs while short-circuiting the learning process through effective program design. The FlexEV program design also enabled CPS Energy to uncover several program design learnings, including: 

  • Consistent messaging to customers on program goals and incentives drives positive outcomes. CPS Energy sends monthly charging email reports to inform customers how they charged during peak periods and if they will receive monthly bill credits. This resulted in 97% of program charging moving to off-peak periods!

  • Year-round flexibility of programs gives CPS Energy visibility into the charging behavior of its EV customer base. Gathering data on customer charging behavior and load impacts NOW will become increasingly important as EV adoption accelerates.
Program Impacts
  • Year-over-year program growth:
    FlexEV Smart Rewards (DR) 130% |  FlexEV Off Peak Rewards (PTR) 290%

  • 97% off-peak charging for Off-Peak program; the highest off-peak of all EH TOU programs.

  • FlexEV Smart Rewards (DR): 39 events included 4 of 4 2023 ERCOT critical peaks.

  • To better understand customer charging behavior and load profiles, CPS Energy called events ~1 per week, even during winter/shoulder months when the grid is typically not under stress.

About the PLMA Awards Program
PLMA's Awards Program, held each year, recognizes industry leaders who, in the previous calendar year, created innovative ideas, methods, programs, and technologies to manage end-use loads, meet peak load demand, and support the successful grid integration of distributed energy resources. The overarching goal of the PLMA Awards Program is to identify and promote industry initiatives that can potentially benefit multiple organizations. To facilitate learning, each award winner is invited to present their work and successes, as well as the important lessons learned, via a 1-hour webinar for all PLMA stakeholders. 

PLMA webinars are presented live online, published on its YouTube Channel, and broadcast over its podcast, "PLMA: Load Management Dialogues" which is available from whereever you get your podcasts. Please check the PLMA Calendar to register for an upcoming webinar. 

Over the past 20 years, PLMA has presented ~105 awards to utilities, product/service providers, end-users, and individuals responsible for demand response efforts targeted to the residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customer markets.