Ontario’s Green Button program aims to help Windsorites save money on energy bills

The Ontario government is launching a program in Windsor to help residents track energy use and save money on monthly bills.

Energy Minister Todd Smith joined ENWIN Utilities Monday morning to officially launch the new Green Button standard program.

“Green Button is a data standard that lets customers download information about their energy usage from their utility in a user friendly format,” said Smith, who earlier this year launched the program for Essex Powerlines users. He told the gathering in February early adopters saved upwards of 18 percent on their monthly bills.

Through the Green Button, customers allow Enwin to securely share their usage information with a certified digital app provided by Enwin.

“Which can analyze the data and provide them with personalized ways to improve energy efficiency and reduce their monthly bills,” Smith said.

The third party apps will be available in the Enwin marketplace, according to Rob Spagnuolo, director of customer care and billing, allowing users to choose the best one for them.

“Apps that can provide alerts, certain periods of the day or provide tips on how they can change their behaviours to optimize their consumption patterns,” Spagnuolo said.

Spagnuolo says Green Button can help users shift their usage into different time periods to optimize their time of use rate plans.

The province said studies have found that access to energy data, which Green Button along with smart home devices enables, can help consumers achieve energy savings of up to 18 per cent.

Other advantages including determining if investments, like an appliance, is performing as intended. There are advantages for utilities companies as well.

“Really helps the province with generation. Helping to smooth out the curve helps reduce the amount of generation we need and can overall reduce the cost of electricity,” said Spagnuolo.

Syed Mir, VP of corporate services at London Hydro, says the company has increased paperless by around 10 percent since introducing Green Button to customers in November of last year.

“You're getting more online customers, more customers aware,” Mir said. “More education so they understand what their energy use and where the opportunities are for savings.”

Green Button became available in 2012, but has not been mandatory. Everyone in Ontario will have access in 2023 when the province will become the first in Canada to mandate the standard.

The Green Button Solution is available by joining MyEnwin online.