ISO-NE launches mobile app for smartphones

‘ISO to Go’ provides user-friendly access to information about the region’s power system and wholesale markets

Do you wonder what types of fuels are generating your electricity? Would you like to see real-time power grid conditions? How about real-time wholesale electricity prices in your New England hometown? There’s an app for that!

ISO to Go is available for download by iPhone and Android smartphone users. This free application puts information about the region’s power grid in the palm of your hand—literally—by providing easy access to the most frequently viewed real-time data on ISO New England’s website and the ISO Express data portal.

Key features of the app include:

• An overview of New England’s power grid and electricity markets
• Easy-to-read charts showing the types of fuels currently being used in the region to generate electricity
• Wholesale electricity price charts updated every five minutes
• Geolocation (GPS) feature to determine your local wholesale electricity price
• Updates on power grid (system) conditions

Not familiar with the New England power system? No problem! Through the mobile app, consumers can read up on key components of the grid—such as generation, transmission, distribution, and demand—as well as power consumption scenarios that explain how varying levels of demand affect electricity prices and fuel mixes.

The mobile app also includes detailed information about real-time wholesale electricity prices, including locational marginal pricing (LMP) maps and prices by wholesale zone or at specific places on the grid. To find city-specific wholesale electricity prices, users have the option to select their nearest location from a list of 150 cities across New England, or utilize a “geo” feature that automatically selects the nearest city based on their smartphone’s GPS coordinates.

The fuel mix pie chart that was recently added to ISO Express is available through the mobile app. It shows a breakdown of resource types—such as natural gas, oil, or nuclear—currently providing electricity to the power grid. Users can also view the type of fuel expected to be used to produce the next increment of power generation if consumer demand increases, which helps consumers understand how their electricity use affects the types of fuels used to generate power in New England.

LMP map shows real-time wholesale prices; “Geo” feature to find local pricing; Pie chart shows current fuel mix

ISO New England created ISO to Go as tool to make information about the region’s power system and wholesale electricity pricing easily-accessible to a broad audience.

In 2011, Babson College graduate students visited ISO New England and identified a need for user-friendly access to the ISO’s wealth of information about the region’s power system and wholesale prices in the form of a mobile app. The graduate students provided input into the types of information that college students and the general public would find helpful, such as levels of energy consumption and when to conserve electricity.

For more information or to submit feedback, please visit www.iso-ne.com/isotogo. ISO to Go can be downloaded for free via the Apple App Store for the iPhone or iPad, and Google Play for Android devices.