Conserving electricity is second nature for Salt River Project (SRP) customer Jenn Holtzman, who describes herself as "obsessive compulsive” about managing energy usage.

To keep her electric bill down, she sets her the thermostat to 78 degrees for air conditioning, does laundry during off-peak hours and even has solar screens covering her windows. In spite of her efforts, her SRP bills would often exceed $300 in the summer.

She has considered installing solar panels on her home and contacted Sun Valley Solar Solutions (SVSS) after hearing about how the company's technology was addressing SRP's new rate plan.

“While some companies didn’t bother calling me back, and others simply pulled out of SRP territory entirely, Sun Valley Solar called me back the same day,” Holtzman said. “They spent hours exploring my long-term financial goals, whether I planned to expand my electric usage in the future with things like a pool, and then spec’d a number of options, each with a clear payback schedule, for me to consider.”

Holtzman chose SVSS for its demand management technology, which makes the return on investing in solar panels worthwhile even under SRP's new rate plan. Through sophisticated software, the SVSS demand manager cycles a preselected list of large electric loads on and off during peak hours. This allows customers to control of their home's energy and avoid the costly demand spikes that can dramatically increase electricity fees under SRP's new E27 solar plan.

Holtzman has already seen her monthly SRP bill drop by 60 percent in spite of a warmer and cloudier winter, and even was able to keep the room temperature set at 73 degrees all day.