Cooper Power Systems has announced that its demand response thermostat is now a ZigBee Smart Energy-Certified product. The certification validates the device’s communication via the global wireless standard, allowing utilities to talk to thermostats installed in residential and commercial environments via ZigBee Smart Energy home area networks, including AMI meters.

The new ZigBee-enabled thermostat has already passed interoperability tests on Elster’s AMI network, and Cooper Power Systems is working to complete interoperability tests with other AMI networks to provide utility customers with two-way demand response capability. In addition to the standard benefits provided by demand response solutions, ZigBee-enabled, two-way communication allows utilities to verify that the load was reduced by their demand response actions.

Demand response solutions, based on the company’s Yukon Advanced Energy Services Platform, thermostats and load control switches, help the environment and save money for utilities and their customers by reducing peak electricity demand. The thermostat is the largest selling of any programmable communicating thermostat in the industry. It includes a backlit display, the largest demand response touch-screen display available and a user-friendly interface with logic-driven menus. The best-in-class thermostat combined with the Cooper Power Systems proprietary MagCycle, TrueCycle and SmartCycle algorthims help utilities get the most out of their demand response investments.