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Pittsburgh to Install BOSS Plug-Based Load Control in About 100 Buildings

July 11, 2018
BOSS’s plug-load control and related cloud-based energy management services are designed to provide immediate energy savings for all of the city’s buildings at the plug load. Its package of products and services enable demand response load shedding to reduce peak demand for the electrical grid, while also reducing pollution.

BOSS Controls, a Pittsburgh-based IoT energy management company, announced that they have received the intent to award contract from the City of Pittsburgh to deploy the nation’s first fully integrated Energy Savings as a Service initiative, across approximately 100 of the city's buildings. In addition to partnering with the City of Pittsburgh’s Sustainability and Resilience Division, Facilities Bureau and the Department of Innovation and Performance as the participating City agencies, the service includes the following partners; Direct Energy Business, Sprint, Duquesne Light Co., and others.

A BOSS Controls press release said this service will provide immediate energy savings at the plug load for the city. The release also said it’s the first partnership of its kind, and that it's elevating Pittsburgh as the national model for clean energy innovation. “The product deployment is part of the City's Climate Action 3.0 objectives of reducing emissions by 50%. The city's participation in the 2030 District Challenge was also a guiding factor for the deployment in the city's buildings downtown,” said Grant Ervin, chief resilience officer, City of Pittsburgh.  “The goals of the Challenge of reducing energy and water consumption by 50% initiated the testing and deployment.”

BOSS’s plug-load control and related cloud-based energy management services are designed to provide immediate energy savings for all of the city’s buildings at the plug load. Its package of products and services enable demand response load shedding to reduce peak demand for the electrical grid, while also reducing pollution.

In the near future, this service, which requires no upfront costs from the building owners, will be available to Duquesne Light’s customers, and other utilities and their customers across the country.  Duquesne Light Co. has designed a rebate amount to be offered to the City of Pittsburgh as a pilot program for the implementation of BOSS Controls citywide. This rebate will be offered through the Duquesne Light Watt Choices Program. “Duquesne Light is excited to partner with the City of Pittsburgh by providing the rebate to advance energy efficiency technology in the City,” said Dave Defide, Manager of Customer Programs, Duquesne Light Company.

“We are very fortunate to have great innovative leaders and forward-looking organizations as we do in Mayor Peduto and the City of Pittsburgh, Direct Energy Business, Sprint and Duquesne Light,” says Greg Puschnigg, CEO/Founder of BOSS Controls (right), in the press release.  “What we are doing today is forever changing the electric utility business model across the world, saving on costs, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and creating many new energy technology jobs.  We are proud to be the first to launch Energy Savings as a Service controlling energy down to the plug load.”

Connectivity for the BOSS Smart Plugs that will be installed in the City of Pittsburgh buildings will use Sprint’s Magic Box and LTE modems with WiFi to connect the plugs. The BOSS Smart Plugs can be added to any electrical devices that simply need to be scheduled off when the buildings are unoccupied, ultimately netting meaningful cost savings and granting Pittsburgh a reduced carbon footprint. According to a Sprint press release, its Magic Box is the world’s first all-wireless small cell,  and it can improve data coverage and increases download and upload speeds on average by 200%. Sprint says this low cost, self-configuring small cell provides indoor coverage averaging up to 30,000 square feet, but that its signal also extends data coverage to Sprint customers in nearby businesses. As part of its Next-Gen Network investment, Sprint is densifying its network by deploying more small cells – including Sprint Magic Boxes – to improve coverage, reliability and speed for consumers and businesses in cities across the country. 

The City of Pittsburgh began the piloting and deployment with BOSS Controls and other engaged partners as part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Global City Team Challenge and through the Carnegie Mellon/City of Pittsburgh Metro 21 program. 

BOSS Controls was the subject of a May 2016 feature article in Electrical Wholesaling. Click here for more information about the integrated Energy Savings as a Service initiative.