When demand for electricity usage is high, providing reliable power to our customers becomes more important than ever. Reducing peak electricity demand can help reduce the need for additional power plants, keep electricity costs low and ensure our communities remain powered. The Connected Rewards program makes small, temporary changes to your smart thermostat temperature settings to reduce peak electricity demand, which usually occurs on hotter or colder days when homes and businesses are using high amounts of electricity for heating and cooling. Adjustments are designed to have minimal impact on your daily life, and BGE will closely monitor the impact on customers.

Connected Rewards is a great choice for customers who want to earn bill credits with little to no effort and total control. 

To see a list of qualifying thermostats, visit the Eligibility page.

You can find the terms and conditions for all thermostat providers in the list of qualifying thermostats.

Your connection/reconnection instructions vary depending on the type of thermostat you have. Please click here to find your thermostat’s directions.

Staying online is also essential to ensure your ongoing participation in the Connected Rewards Program. If your thermostat is offline for six weeks, you will be automatically removed from the Connected Rewards Program and miss out on annual bill credits.

To be eligible for Connected Rewards, participants must:

• Be an active BGE small business electric customer
• Use an eligible internet-connected (Wi-Fi) thermostat for cooling
• Have an AMI/Smart meter installed at the location of the active account associated with the devices being enrolled
• Agree to terms and conditions as outlined by each thermostat manufacturer
• Allow BGE to make small thermostat adjustments of up to 4 degrees on high-energy usage days

Customers would be ineligible for the Connected Rewards Program if they:

• Do not have a qualifying Wi-Fi thermostat
• Do not receive electric delivery service from BGE
• Do not have an AMI/Smart meter installed at the location the device is installed

To enroll in the Connected Rewards Program visit the enrollment portal and select your thermostat. Then click the “Sign Up!” button to go to your thermostat’s website, where you will follow simple steps to enroll. Once BGE confirms your eligibility, you will be enrolled in the program. You will receive a notification on your eligibility status in your account’s registered email.

You can confirm your participation in the smart thermostat manufacturer app. Steps are dependent on your thermostat brand:

If you cannot confirm your enrollment status through the manufacturer app, you can reach out to BGEConnectedRewards@icf.com to confirm enrollment.

Depending on your thermostat provider, you may receive a text, email or mobile app notification in the hours leading up to an adjustment event. Some thermostats may display a symbol notifying you that an adjustment event is taking place.

At the start of a non-emergency* adjustment event, your thermostat will be automatically adjusted up to 4 degrees from the current thermostat setpoint. The adjustment will typically last no more than six hours on non-holiday weekdays. Once the temperature adjustment is over, your thermostat will return to its normal setpoint and/or schedule. In some cases, your thermostat may be adjusted up to 3 degrees before an adjustment event to pre-condition your home. You can opt out of a non-emergency event at any time from your mobile device, web browser or thermostat.

*During an emergency event, regional demand for electricity is close to surpassing regional supply and BGE is required to activate the Connected Rewards Program. This type of event is usually called to avoid potential service interruptions. During an emergency event and the transition period after the event, you may not have the ability to override your program participation.

While we recommend participating in all thermostat adjustments, we understand that life isn’t always predictable. At no point during your participation in Connected Rewards will you lose control of your thermostat. Need to change the temperature for any reason? Easily opt out of any event by adjusting the temperature from your mobile device, web browser or thermostat. Opting out will not remove you from Connected Rewards or forfeit your bill credits as long as you participate in the majority of adjustments.

Adjustment events will only affect the temperature by a few degrees, with minimal impact on comfort. However, you can easily opt out of an adjustment event at any time, and you will retain control of all your thermostat functions.

For most devices, when you opt out of the pre-cool, you are also opting out of the adjustment events. If you own an ecobee device, you must also opt out of the adjustment event.

Yes, Connected Rewards participants will still receive their bill credits if no adjustment events occur during the season.

$10 in monthly bill credits will be directly applied to your BGE bill for each month your participate and will be labeled as “Connected Rewards Monthly Credit.” 

*Thermostat manufacturers may change this language at any time, BGE does not own this user experience.

Send an email to bgeconnectedrewards@icf.com requesting to end your participation in the Connected Rewards Program. Unenrolling from the program will end your participation for all enrolled thermostats and you will not receive the annual participation incentive.

If you are experiencing issues with your thermostat, please contact your thermostat manufacturer for guidance.

BGE is happy to answer any questions related to Connected Rewards. Please email bgeconnectedrewards@icf.com and a representative will get back to you.