Demand-response events on Oracle’s Opower platform numbered 73 across North America year to date, while the company reported a record one-gigawatt cut in peak electricity demand.
Oracle’s Nov. 11 release said the events covered winter and summer, compared with 49 events in 2025. Customer engagement rose to 4.3 million from 3.3 million, a 30% increase.
Oracle put average peak savings at 16,592 kilowatts per event. It estimated that figure matched the peak electricity use of about 4,150 homes, using Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) data. ERCOT’s rule of thumb says one megawatt can serve about 250 residential customers during ERCOT peak hours.
Oracle describes Opower’s offerings as AI-powered behavioral demand-response and peak-time rebate programs. They encourage customers to reduce or shift electricity use during high-demand periods, and Oracle says people can participate without connected devices. The company said it expanded the platform to support events throughout the year and help utilities tailor messages or program options to customer groups.
Oracle reported that Puget Sound Energy’s Flex Events program achieved peak-load reductions of up to 16.6 megawatts per event over three consecutive seasons. A separate PSE tariff sets a $0.50 credit for each kilowatt-hour saved in the residential Peak Time Savings opt-out service and describes participation as voluntary. Under the tariff, incentive payments flow into power costs recovered through general rates. Oracle quoted Tom Smith, PSE’s supervisor for demand response, calling the performance-based incentives introduced this summer in Peak Time Savings “a more direct reward.”
Oracle quoted CPS Energy as saying more than one-third of its nearly 1 million customers joined summer demand-response events. Oracle also attributed to the utility a virtual power plant with more than 350,000 customers and 12 August events that reached nearly 19 megawatts.
