PowerCost Monitor: A Win for Your Pocket and the Planet

Do you leave the light on when you’re not in the room? Do you forget to turn the TV off or leave your laptop charger plugged in? We all do it now and again, but the fact is, it’s hurting the environment and it’s costing you money.

“Climate change is upon us and the planet needs action,” warns Peter Porteous, chief executive officer of the Ottawa-based company Blue Line Innovations.

“Waste is estimated to be upwards of 10 per cent of our electricity usage. The data that Blue Line provides can identify this energy waste and empower people to take charge of their electricity consumption,” he explains. “It’s a win on the monthly electricity bill and equally important, it’s a win for the planet.”

Blue Line Innovations’ PowerCost Monitor provides homeowners and small businesses with real time information on their electricity usage and issues warnings when more expensive pricing is in effect. There is also a cloud-based version for your smart phone or web dashboard.

Maurice and Danny Tuff, two brothers from Witless Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, came up with the idea to develop a ‘speedometer for electricity’ in 2004 and from there, Blue Line Innovations was born.

The company set up shop in Ottawa in 2013. Gerry O’Brien, chief technology officer, says it was the logical move.

“The community in Ottawa is always extremely open to the sharing of ideas and promoting high tech growth in general,” he says.

“The decision to relocate to Ottawa was a simple one for us,” Porteous agrees. “We wanted to be closer to our Ontario utility customers.  We also liked Ottawa’s focus on becoming a greentech hub…”

Research proves this Capital clean-tech company is making a difference: “Homes using a real time energy monitor such as the PowerCost Monitor reduce their electricity usage on average nine per cent,” Porteous says.

In the long term, O’Brien explains, there is more you can do.

“It’s more than just turning things off when you don’t need them…you can now start taking advantage of other technologies for your home that you can install and see additional savings.” For example, you can start by looking into home energy auditing, buying ‘green’ appliances or replacing your lighting with LEDs.

It might seem like only a small change, but it can make a big impact overall.

“At the end of the day, the actions of individual homeowners aren’t necessarily going to make a huge change, but the combined effort of individual homeowners can make a huge change,” O’Brien says.

Click here to learn more about Blue Line Innovations and the PowerCost Monitor.