New smart thermostat rebates to begin in Illinois

According to a blog post from the Midwest Clean Energy Director of the Environmental Defense Fund, Illinois is poised to offer the nation's largest rebate on smart thermostats.

The announcement comes out of a series of meetings between utility companies and environmental advocacy groups. The hope is to put the means of intelligently controlling residential energy use into the hands of more homeowners.

According to the blog, one of the key hopes is that the widespread use of smart thermostats will realize the potential of demand response:

Demand response is a cost-effective energy savings tool that rewards people for conserving the electricity when the grid is stressed. If you have a smart thermostat and agree to participate in a demand response event, your thermostat will automatically be minimally adjusted to ease the burden on the grid.

Read the full blog post on the Environmental Defense Fund website to find out more.