WattTime expands marginal emissions dataset globally to cover nearly 100% of world's electricity consumption

The nonprofit is working to eliminate the world's emissions data divide — and the inequitable approach to the energy transition — with the first-ever electricity marginal emissions dataset covering nearly every country and region, which can be leveraged to save the world more than 9 gigatons of carbon emissions annually.

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Environmental tech nonprofit WattTime has announced the completion of the first-ever hourly electricity marginal emissions dataset for nearly every country worldwide. Today's data release expands the availability of hourly marginal emissions data to 210 countries and territories, covering nearly 100% of global electricity consumption on the world's power grids. Previously, only around 40 countries had such data. WattTime developed this dataset to enable more strategic climate action and emissions reductions decisions, particularly in regions that never had access to such granular and actionable data before.

These data allow users to estimate emissions based on when and where electricity is used, as well as the avoided emissions that can be achieved by investing in renewable energy projects in specific locations. Marginal emissions data empower corporate leaders, policymakers, and consumers to make decisions that reduce or avoid the most emissions.

Historically, a lack of accurate and actionable marginal emissions data has hindered climate action in much of the Global South and other developing countries. This data divide has slowed meaningful climate progress and clean energy deployments in the regions where it is needed most.

"Climate progress is needed worldwide, but all too often, the most cutting-edge, data-driven solutions are only made available in a select few wealthy countries," said Gavin McCormick, founder and executive director of WattTime. "But we will never beat climate change if emissions data experts keep ignoring the rest of the world — because frankly, that's where most emissions are. We're beyond excited to be leaping forward in our mission to give anyone, anywhere the tools needed to slash the emissions. Because we're all in this together."

"At Meta, we believe that using more accurate emissions data drives more informed and impactful climate action. The emissions from a megawatt-hour of electricity can vary widely by time and location, both within and across grids. WattTime's vastly expanded dataset will help all grid participants more accurately assess their carbon footprints and make more targeted climate investments to accelerate grid decarbonization globally," said Brent Morgan, Principal, Energy Strategy at Meta.

"Amazon is committed to making the global power grid carbon-free and more reliable for everyone. We recognize that carbon emissions from electricity generation vary by time and location, making accurate measurement complex. With the right data, we can now better understand the emissions impact of our energy consumption and clean energy purchases. The expanded data from WattTime offers crucial insights to target energy projects where they can have the greatest impact, helping to decarbonize the grid and make it more reliable for all," said Jake Oster, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Director of Energy, Environment and Sustainability Policy.

Marginal emissions data have many uses, but three use cases in particular have dramatic potential to reduce global emissions. Using data from the U.S. Department of Energy, the United Nations, and its own work, WattTime estimates that full global adoption of these three techniques alone could save the world over 9 gigatons of carbon emissions annually:

Renewables siting

Also referred to as "emissionality," this approach uses granular marginal emissions data to help renewable energy buyers target the dirtiest hours and locations on the grid. This approach allows buyers to maximize the climate benefit of their investments by displacing more carbon-intensive power.

WattTime has worked with partners like Apple, Boston University, Clearloop, General Motors (GM) Meta, Nucor, Salesforce, and The Nature Conservancy to enable emissionality-based procurement.

"You can't fix what you can't measure. At Salesforce, we use marginal emissions data to guide our procurement of renewables in locations around the world that can maximize emissions impact," said Megan Lorenzen, Director, Climate & Energy, Salesforce. "The expansion of this dataset will accelerate that work and help close the global data divide — a critical step in reaching our collective climate goals."

"In addition to speeding global emissions reductions, building more renewables in lower-income countries can provide concrete benefits for promoting peace in fragile regions. We at Energy Peace Partners know firsthand the power of expanding clean energy access among vulnerable populations. This dataset — if used well — will help corporate buyers better optimize their procurement and send stronger demand signals for clean energy projects that deliver decarbonization and social benefits together," said Doug Miller, director of market development at Energy Peace Partners.

Now that an emissionality-based approach is possible on a global scale, cloud computing company and WattTime partner PagerDuty has provided WattTime with a grant to help raise awareness of the solution among decision-makers in Global South countries.

Load shifting

Marginal emissions data can be used to power automated emissions reduction (AER) technology and other features that allow for the scheduling of flexible energy demand to reduce electricity-related emissions. Internet-connected devices, like smart thermostats and EV chargers, can use the data to forecast when energy consumption will be cleanest and shift power use to align with those times.

WattTime has worked with companies like Amazon, Apple, BMW, Microsoft, and Toyota to deploy load-shifting solutions driven by marginal emissions data.

Supply chain decarbonization

WattTime's marginal emissions data can also be used to better understand the electricity-related emissions of a company's suppliers, allowing them to make better supplier decisions that contribute to decreases in Scope 3 emissions. WattTime is advancing this use case rapidly in its work with Climate TRACE — a global nonprofit coalition that provides open access to source-level emissions data for every sector and country in the world.

The full dataset is now available to WattTime partners through licensing agreements. A free and simplified version of the dataset suited for many emissions reduction use cases can be accessed by anyone via the WattTime API.

To learn more about opportunities to support or partner with WattTime, contact the team here.

About WattTime

WattTime is an environmental tech nonprofit that empowers all people, companies, policymakers, and countries to slash emissions and choose cleaner energy. Founded by UC Berkeley researchers, we develop data-driven tools and policies that increase environmental and social good. During the energy transition from a fossil-fueled past to a zero-carbon future, WattTime 'bends the curve' of emissions reductions to realize deeper, faster benefits for people and planet. Learn more at www.WattTime.org.

Media Contact

Nikki Arnone, Inflection Point Agency for WattTime, 1 (719) 357-8344, nikki@inflectionpointagency.com, www.watttime.org

WattTime selected for climate-focused Salesforce ‘AI for Impact’ accelerator program

Five nonprofits will receive support to further develop and scale AI-driven climate solutions and tools; WattTime will prioritize expanding user partnerships to maximize potential emissions reductions from its AI-powered tools.

Oakland, Calif. — 25 April 2024 — Environmental tech nonprofit WattTime today announced it has been selected by global software leader Salesforce as part of its new Salesforce Accelerator AI for Impact program — a philanthropic initiative to equip purpose-driven organizations with trusted generative AI technologies.

Salesforce selected five nonprofits to support through the accelerator, which is focused on AI-driven climate solutions. The technologies and teams selected are addressing a wide range of climate issues, from mitigation and adaptation to equitable climate finance. 

WattTime’s focus for the Salesforce accelerator program will be on scaling the reach of its marginal emissions data signal and API. Today, these tools allow WattTime partners to enable hundreds of millions of internet-connected devices to shift electricity usage to sync with clean power; they also allow corporate sustainability teams to strategize on the most impactful locations for renewable energy investments. However, these successful partnerships represent only a small fraction of what WattTime estimates could be more than 9 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) reductions annually. With Salesforce’s support in AI technology, expertise, and resources, WattTime aims to greatly expand its partnerships to realize these  emissions reduction impacts. 

“We believe good data are the foundation of good climate decision making, which is why we’re so thrilled to have this new wave of support from Salesforce,” said Gavin McCormick, founder and executive director at WattTime. “With their help, we can improve our AI- and data-driven tools and get them into the hands of the world’s largest corporate leaders. We can enable even more users to reduce their emissions footprint quickly, affordably, and efficiently. Scaling these tools is a no-regrets option that can make a real difference for our climate future.” 

Salesforce will support each of the five nonprofits in the AI for Impact cohort with technology, investment, and philanthropy — including product donations and $2 million in shared funding — to help each team enrich the world’s climate action toolbox. Organizations will also receive a year of pro-bono consulting from Salesforce experts focused on strategy, planning, technical architecture, and more. 

In addition to WattTime, other nonprofit organizations selected for the accelerator include Climate Collective Foundation, Good360, Groundswell, and Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA). 

In tandem with the accelerator, Salesforce also announced a new set of policy principles focused on the sustainable use of AI technology. The framework shares guidance on proposed AI regulations to minimize environmental impacts and drive stronger climate innovations. 

Becky Ferguson, CEO of the Salesforce Foundation and SVP of Philanthropy at Salesforce, shared: “Generative AI presents a massive and exciting opportunity for purpose-driven organizations to better serve and meaningfully engage with their communities. In this time of rapid innovation, we need to ensure no one gets left behind. This AI accelerator brings the full power of Salesforce with unrestricted grants, pro-bono expertise, and our technology to create a more equitable AI world.”

To learn more about opportunities to support or partner with WattTime, contact the team here. 

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About WattTime
WattTime is an environmental tech nonprofit that empowers all people, companies, policymakers, and countries to slash emissions and choose cleaner energy. Founded by UC Berkeley researchers, we develop data-driven tools and policies that increase environmental and social good. During the energy transition from a fossil-fueled past to a zero-carbon future, WattTime ‘bends the curve’ of emissions reductions to realize deeper, faster benefits for people and planet. Learn more at www.WattTime.org. 

Media Contacts
Inflection Point Agency for WattTime
nikki@inflectionpointagency.com

Patrick J. McGovern Foundation awards $66.4 million to advance AI and data solutions that center people and purpose

Climate TRACE unveils open emissions database of more than 352 million assets, including power sector data from WattTime

BMW Taps WattTime to Enable ChargeForward Smart Charging Feature

WattTime and its partners celebrate one billion watts of emissionality as more renewable energy buyers prioritize avoided emissions impacts

More renewable energy buyers than ever before are intentionally siting wind and solar projects in locations where they will push more dirty energy off the grid.

Oakland, Calif. — 14 September 2023 — Environmental tech nonprofit WattTime today announced that at least one billion watts of renewable energy have now been procured through an emissionality-based approach. In other words, these wind and solar projects have been selected based partially on their potential to avoid more emissions due to their location and the emissions intensity of the power grid in that region. 

“Clean energy projects only reduce emissions by replacing fossil fuel plants, and siting them in particularly high-emitting, fossil fuel-heavy regions can greatly amplify their climate benefits by pushing dirtier sources of electricity off the grid,” said Gavin McCormick, founder and executive director of WattTime. “That’s the power of emissionality — a simple approach that can result in bigger benefits for the planet.” 

This billion watt milestone is based on WattTime’s analysis of both publicly available and additional confidential market information. Partners of the organization which have publicly listed emissionality as part of their renewable energy procurement strategy include Salesforce, Nucor, Boston University, Clearloop, Rivian, and others. 

Most recently, Rivian and The Nature Conservancy partnered with Brightnight on a project which will transform a Kentucky coal mine into an 800-megawatt solar facility. The site was selected, in part, through an emissionality lens to ensure a heftier decarbonization effect for the grid. 

"In July, Rivian announced a partnership with BrightNight and The Nature Conservancy to be the largest offtaker (100MW) of solar power from phase 1 of the Starfire project in Kentucky — soon to be built at the site of what was once one of the largest coal mines in the US,” said Andrew Peterman, director of renewable energy at Rivian. “We worked closely with The Nature Conservancy to develop a rigorous evaluation framework and set of resources (Power with Purpose) to help select renewable energy projects that prioritize positive benefits for climate, conservation, and communities. WattTime’s analysis and input allowed us to integrate an emissionality-based approach and ensure we were maximizing the climate benefits of our decision.”

Thanks to emissionality, the 14 wind and solar projects included in WattTime’s billion watt milestone will reduce an estimated 10 million tonnes more emissions than they otherwise would have. All of the renewable energy sites included in the analysis are located in coal-heavy regions in the US or overseas. 

“It took years of work with like-minded partners to reach a billion watts of emissionality, but we are now seeing a dramatic acceleration. We estimate the next billion watts may happen in mere months, now that momentum is building at what seems to be an exponential pace and other buyers are catching on,” said McCormick.   

“As a longtime partner of WattTime, together we’ve pioneered the importance of making sure renewable energy projects get more done when it comes to tackling carbon emissions,” said Laura Zapata, CEO and co-founder of Clearloop. “At Clearloop, we’re fully focused on finding innovative ways to fund and launch new solar projects where they can do the most good — both by cleaning up the grid and expanding access to clean energy, as well as investing in underserved American communities. With support from WattTime, we’ve built Clearloop to help organizations of all sizes embrace emissionality as a key grid decarbonization solution.” 

A white paper originally drafted in 2009 by Meredith Fowlie at UC Berkeley first floated the concept that one could, in theory, detect where building renewable energy would reduce more emissions, and then deliberately select these locations. McCormick and the WattTime team built on this theory and coined the term emissionality in 2017. 

Today, WattTime works with institutions of all kinds to support them in selecting more impactful projects, whether by providing avoided emissions analysis, connecting them with like-minded groups, or otherwise assisting them in their sustainability efforts. WattTime’s analyses are based on marginal emissions data, which assess the real-world impacts of consuming or generating power at a specific time and location. 

Today’s billion watt milestone includes only projects that evaluated avoided emissions with WattTime data — the details of which were readily available to the analysis team. But WattTime would like to hear about (and celebrate) other renewable energy projects with locations that were chosen because they avoided more emissions.  

To share information about your projects, learn more about emissionality, or discuss renewable energy project selection support, contact the WattTime team here. 

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About WattTime

WattTime is an environmental tech nonprofit that empowers all people, companies, policymakers, and countries to slash emissions and choose cleaner energy. Founded by UC Berkeley researchers, we develop data-driven tools and policies that increase environmental and social good. During the energy transition from a fossil-fueled past to a zero-carbon future, WattTime ‘bends the curve’ of emissions reductions to realize deeper, faster benefits for people and planet. Learn more at www.WattTime.org. 

WattTime and ev.energy expand partnership to allow EV drivers to automatically sync charging with cleaner electricity

Palo Alto, Calif. and Oakland, Calif. — 24 August 2023 — Electric vehicle (EV) charging solution provider ev.energy and environmental tech nonprofit WattTime have announced a new phase of their partnership to make driving electric even cleaner. The revamped collaboration will enable the more than 120,000 drivers on the ev.energy platform to charge on the cleanest electricity available on their local grid by intelligently and automatically shifting charging times.

This new capability is made possible thanks to marginal emissions insights from WattTime, which have been fully integrated into the ev.energy managed charging platform. After prior collaboration to develop the current emissions optimization feature in select markets, the expanded partnership takes ev.energy’s emissions reduction feature to the next level — and not just geographically. 

While ev.energy’s mobile app previously shared charging-related emissions information with users and allowed them to manually choose cleaner charging times, the new update allows for complete automation of this process. The ev.energy app now uses AER (automated emissions reduction) technology to strategically charge the EV during times that will cause the lowest emissions, using real-time marginal grid emissions data from WattTime. Typically, this means using surplus renewable energy that would otherwise be wasted.

"Our mission at ev.energy is to connect every EV to the greenest energy available on the grid. Through our partnership with WattTime, we can track the carbon intensity of every charging event that flows over the ev.energy platform, and critically, understand the marginal carbon emissions on the grid at any point in time. Watttime's approach is unique, and we're delighted to be scaling with such a like-minded partner and growing together as we accelerate the transition to a carbon-free grid," said Nick Woolley, CEO of ev.energy. 

ev.energy helps EV drivers save both money and carbon when charging their cars at home. Their mobile app allows drivers to optimize for cost and avoided emissions based on their local electricity grid and rate plan, and can even help drivers optimize their charging around  home solar production. In addition to the 120,000 drivers on ev.energy’s platform, the company works with more than 30 utilities globally to help deliver important grid flexibility services and financial benefits for drivers. 

“I am constantly amazed by the sheer potential for EVs to further reduce emissions by charging when there’s surplus clean energy,” said Gavin McCormick, founder and executive director of WattTime. “This growing source of electricity demand has the power to take a huge bite out of global grid emissions. Innovative companies like ev.energy are rapidly moving us closer to a world in which all flexible devices can automatically run on clean energy, and we’re thrilled that they share this vision with us.” 

WattTime provides highly granular marginal emissions datasets, which factor in the time and location of energy consumption to pinpoint real-world emissions impact. This real-time emissions signal allows IoT device companies to deploy AER technology to automatically reduce the emissions caused by smart devices that are flexible on when they use power, from thermostats to EV chargers and beyond. 

For more information on ev.energy and its suite of services, visit https://www.ev.energy/contact. 

And for more information on WattTime and its data-powered solutions, visit https://www.watttime.org/contact/. 

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About ev.energy
ev.energy is a Certified B Corporation® with a mission to make EV charging greener, cheaper, and smarter for utilities and their customers. Its end-to-end software platform wirelessly connects to a range of electric vehicles and chargers to intelligently manage EV charging while working with utilities to put cash back in customers’ wallets for charging at grid-friendly times. With a global base of utility, vehicle OEM and EVSE partners, ev.energy manages more than 120,000 EVs on its platform each day. Learn more at https://ev.energy/business.

About WattTime
WattTime is an environmental tech nonprofit that empowers all people, companies, policymakers, and countries to slash emissions and choose cleaner energy. Founded by UC Berkeley researchers, we develop data-driven tools and policies that increase environmental and social good. During the energy transition from a fossil-fueled past to a zero-carbon future, WattTime ‘bends the curve’ of emissions reductions to realize deeper, faster benefits for people and planet. Learn more at www.WattTime.org. 

Media Contacts
Inflection Point Agency for WattTime
nikki@inflectionpointagency.com

Mission Control Communications for ev.energy
ev.energy@missionC2.com

Amazon Harnesses WattTime to Enable Alexa and Smart Thermostat Users to Reduce GHG Emissions Impacts

Oakland, Calif. — 14 June, 2023 — Environmental tech nonprofit WattTime today announced it is working with Amazon to bring greenhouse gas emissions insights and emission reduction capabilities to the Alexa app and Amazon Smart Thermostat. The Alexa Energy Dashboard now offers emissions insights powered by WattTime. In addition, the Amazon Smart Thermostat can now automatically optimize HVAC energy consumption to align with lower emissions moments on the power grid. 

“We are always searching for those partnerships and applications that will drive more impact faster when it comes to reducing emissions and tipping the climate scales in favor of our planet, and this work with Amazon is a prime example,” said Gavin McCormick, founder and executive director of WattTime. “We’re excited to offer simple — and in some cases automatic — tools to help reduce electricity-related emissions impacts. Today’s news is just the beginning when it comes to the difference we can make with collaborations like this.” 

The Alexa Energy Dashboard, housed within the Alexa app, helps users understand their device’s energy consumption. It works with a selection of water heaters and thermostats to help track the usage of devices that consume the most energy. Using historical data aggregated by WattTime, Amazon calculates a median value of CO2 emissions in each user’s area. Looking at estimated carbon dioxide emissions over the course of 24 hours, it categorizes values above that median as “Higher” and below that median as “Lower,” which is then displayed in the dashboard. This data can help users choose when to run their dishwasher, dryer, or other inherently flexible electricity-consuming appliances.

With new improvements to the Amazon Smart Thermostat, emissions reduction capabilities go a step further. Customers in the U.S. can now choose to opt-in to a feature to help limit HVAC use during times when electricity may cause more emissions by having Alexa use estimations provided by WattTime and automatically adjust the temperature by one degree. The Amazon Smart Thermostat’s new feature leverages WattTime’s marginal emissions rates, which assess the real-world impacts of consuming power at a specific time and location. 

"We're very excited about this energy feature update for Amazon Smart Thermostats that enables Alexa to try to reduce a household’s carbon impact proactively," said Maiken Moeller-Hansen, Director of Energy and Sustainability at Amazon. "Now Alexa can automatically adjust temperature set-points to reduce usage during high emission times, based on real-time emissions data from the user’s local power grid." 

For more information on WattTime and its technology, visit www.watttime.org.  

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About WattTime 

WattTime is an environmental tech nonprofit that empowers all people, companies, policymakers, and countries to slash emissions and choose cleaner energy. Founded by UC Berkeley researchers, we develop data-driven tools and policies that increase environmental and social good. During the energy transition from a fossil-fueled past to a zero-carbon future, WattTime ‘bends the curve’ of emissions reductions to realize deeper, faster benefits for people and planet. Learn more at www.WattTime.org.

Media Contact
Nikki Arnone, Inflection Point Agency for WattTime
nikki@inflectionpointagency.com

Hourly carbon data enables smarter emissions decisions for industrial operations

Hourly carbon data partnership between Ndustrial and WattTime allows companies to drive authentic emissions reductions

RALEIGH, NC AND OAKLAND, CA – March. 14, 2023 – Ndustrial has announced it is incorporating hourly carbon emissions data from WattTime into its Nsight™ Energy Intensity Platform to enable smarter emissions decisions for its industrial customer base.

“Most companies measure their greenhouse gas emissions on an annual basis,” says Ndustrial’s Founder and CEO Jason Massey, “but that doesn’t account for the fact that using electricity can have vastly different emissions impacts at different times of day. Our platform will now highlight these variations.”

Marginal emissions data measures the real-world consequences of consuming electricity at a certain time and location within an ever-changing power grid. Availability of hourly marginal carbon emissions data for local electricity grids around the world now allows companies to achieve bigger carbon reductions and better quantify the emissions impacts of their actions.

Ndustrial helps businesses drive down Energy Intensity, reduce energy costs and increase sustainable operations. One way customers drive down energy spend is by responding to Nsight’s real-time suggestions to avoid critical peak periods via peak avoidance algorithms and demand response signals.

Through the partnership with WattTime, Ndustrial’s Nsight™ Energy Intensity Platform can now incorporate estimates of the avoided carbon emissions expected from various operational suggestions. During peak periods of demand on the grid, for example, users may see substantial cost savings as well as carbon emissions savings from curtailing or shifting the time of their energy use. All of this can be scheduled hours in advance, with a 72-hour forecast of emissions rates.

In addition to the operational insights enabled by hourly marginal emissions rates, Nsight will use hourly average emissions rates for more granular Scope 2 emissions accounting. The most commonly used emissions accounting approach relies on an annual emissions rate from the EPA that is almost two years stale by the time it is published. Nsight will provide an emissions accounting option that is up to date throughout the year, is no more than a few days old, and shows variation throughout the day.

Many leading companies are leveraging marginal emissions data from WattTime to accelerate the electric grid’s transition to zero carbon. WattTime is an environmental tech nonprofit founded by UC Berkeley researchers to increase environmental and social good. Through this partnership, Ndustrial and WattTime will empower a new and large portion of the industrial sector to make faster climate progress.

“Industrial companies are some of the biggest consumers of electricity out there, so they have a huge opportunity to help bring down global emissions simply by making smart choices about when they use that power,” said Gavin McCormick, founder and executive director of WattTime. “This partnership with Ndustrial is an exciting opportunity for us to help their sizable client base bring down global emissions at scale, fast.”

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About Ndustrial
Ndustrial exists to accelerate the optimization of Energy Intensity in industrial facilities and has helped avoid over $100 million in energy spend. Their production-first approach helps clients find – and automate – the energy-saving opportunities that make sense for them. Their Energy Intensity platform integrates over 40 different systems into a single view, processing over 100 million data points every day to enable smarter energy decisions in real time. Ndustrial’s motto, “We help you find energy,” focuses the team to drive down Energy Intensity, decrease costs and increase sustainable operations inside the walls of every industrial facility. Learn more at ndustrial.io.

About WattTime
WattTime is an environmental tech nonprofit that empowers all people, companies, policymakers, and countries to slash emissions and choose cleaner energy. Founded by UC Berkeley researchers, we develop data-driven tools and policies that increase environmental and social good. During the energy transition from a fossil-fueled past to a zero-carbon future, WattTime ‘bends the curve’ of emissions reductions to realize deeper, faster benefits for people and planet. Learn more at www.WattTime.org.

WattTime unveils new health-focused power grid emissions signal, partners with Toyota and Lexus for first implementation

Oakland, Calif. — January 11, 2023 — Environmental tech nonprofit WattTime and Toyota Motor North America (Toyota) today announced a partnership enabling electric vehicle (EV) drivers to further reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and human health impacts from vehicles. The ECO Charging feature integrated into Toyota and Lexus apps as part of Remote Connect is currently available for customers with eligible plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

“Through our partnership with WattTime, we are providing customers an easy and accessible way to identify when they can charge their vehicle while also helping reduce environmental impacts,” said Steve Basra, group vice president, Connected Technologies, Toyota Motor North America.

WattTime’s emissions data provides the information necessary for smart devices such as EVs and thermostats to align their energy usage with moments of cleaner energy and avoid moments of dirtier energy. This is possible because not all power plants are on or running at full capacity at all times. More- and less-emitting power plants turn on or off, or ramp up or down, at different times. 

Until now, WattTime’s emissions data has focused solely on timing energy use to moments when power plants produce less carbon emissions. Today’s announcement signals a new way for WattTime data to be used to reduce the human health impacts of electricity consumption, specifically for owners of EVs. This is particularly important for disadvantaged communities where high-emission power plants are clustered in a particular area, thereby causing a disproportionate burden to those communities.

For example, on the New York grid, ramping up a power plant upstate can cause significantly less harm to people’s lungs than getting the same amount of electricity from all the fossil-fueled peaker plants in the middle of Queens, where the power plants — and their emissions — are surrounded by densely populated communities.

“The key is knowing which power plants will respond — which will turn on or off — based on when people use electricity,” explained Gavin McCormick, founder and executive director of WattTime. “Now, Toyota and Lexus EV owners can use their app to prioritize charging during moments that better protect people’s lungs. We are thrilled to be launching this updated application to multiply the good work the innovators at Toyota have already done in slashing pollution.”

The Toyota and Lexus app software, as part of the Remote Connect ECO Charging feature, combines the customer’s own charging needs with electricity emissions data from WattTime to propose a charging schedule that is likely to reduce both the health impacts and carbon emissions of charging with electricity from the grid.

Even before emissions-optimized charging, EVs cause less pollution than traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) automobiles. Smart charging powered by WattTime’s emissions data can increase that beneficial impact even further to make EVs up to 20% cleaner annually versus normal charging, according to a 2019 WattTime analysis. Those emissions reductions and cleaner air can benefit both people and planet.

“Our electrified vehicle customers select our vehicles not only to enjoy a best-in-class customer experience, but also to make a positive impact on our environment and society,” said James George, general manager, Toyota EV Charging Solutions. “We will continue to provide solutions both now and in the future in support of Toyota’s goal of creating a carbon neutral society.”  

Eligible Toyota vehicles include PHEVs such as the Prius Prime and RAV4 Prime, as well as BEVs such as the bZ4X, which debuted in North America as the global automaker’s first pure battery EV. Lexus’ all-new RZ 450e BEV will go on sale early this year. In addition, Lexus offers PHEV options in the NX 450h+ and the forthcoming RX 450h+. 

About WattTime
WattTime is an environmental tech nonprofit that empowers all people, companies, policymakers, and countries to easily and effectively supercharge emissions reductions from electricity use. Founded by UC Berkeley researchers, we develop data-driven insights, software, and tools that multiply the beneficial impact of clean energy solutions and slash emissions from fossil-fueled electricity. For more information visit www.watttime.org. 

About Toyota 
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our nearly 1,500 dealerships. 

Toyota directly employs more than 39,000 people in the U.S. who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 32 million cars and trucks at our nine manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 10th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.  With the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, a quarter of the company’s 2021 U.S. sales were electrified.

To help inspire the next generation for a career in STEM-based fields, including mobility, Toyota launched its virtual education hub at www.TourToyota.com with an immersive experience and chance to virtually visit many of our U.S. manufacturing facilities. The hub also includes a series of free STEM-based lessons and curriculum through Toyota USA Foundation partners, virtual field trips and more.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

About Lexus
Lexus’ passion for brave design, imaginative technology, and exhilarating performance enables the luxury lifestyle brand to create amazing experiences for its customers. Lexus began its journey in 1989 with two luxury sedans and a commitment to pursue perfection. Since then, Lexus has developed its lineup to meet the needs of global luxury customers in more than 90 countries. In the United States, Lexus vehicles are sold through 244 dealers offering a full lineup of luxury vehicles. With six models incorporating Lexus Hybrid Drive, Lexus is the luxury hybrid leader. Lexus also offers eight F SPORT models and one F performance model. Lexus is committed to being a visionary brand that anticipates the future for luxury customers.

WattTime Media Contact
Nikki Arnone, Inflection Point Agency for WattTime
nikki@inflectionpointagency.com 

Toyota/Lexus Media Contact
Josh Burns
Joshua.Burns@Toyota.com