Wattsmart Drive

Pacific Power customers in Oregon who own or lease eligible electric vehicles can enroll in Wattsmart Drive.

Most events will last up to 5 minutes. This will have minimal impact on your charging if you are using a level 2 charger.

Events will take place as needed based on energy demand. There will be no more than 48 events each year, but we expect the actual number to be less.

At times, there can be a high demand for electricity on the power grid. During these times, we may pause your electric vehicle charging, thus helping reduce the immediate demand on the energy grid. You will be notified when these events occur, and you may choose to opt-out of an event.

Electric vehicles help reduce emissions. When EV charging can be used as a resource for the energy grid, there’s even more benefit.

The paused charging of vehicles, called Plug-in Perk events, only last up to five minutes at a time, so you will likely not notice the pausing occurred until after your charging resumes. This is a great opportunity to benefit the energy system and the environment – plus earn an incentive!

Not necessarily. For years, we've built our system in a way that can effectively integrate more EVs with the grid. We also offer programs to help customers use energy wisely with Time of Use, Cool Keeper and through education about charging vehicles overnight and on the weekends, when possible. This innovative program helps  support a cleaner, more reliable and more affordable electric grid.

You have full control to override the program. You can do this by going to the web interface and clicking “charge my car”. You can also go to your vehicle’s app and click “start charging." You will take an “opt-out” each time you override the charging control settings. For each year of enrollment, you will have two penalty free opt-outs. Each additional opt-out results in a $10 penalty from your annual incentive.

No. If you are unable to participate in Plug-in Perk events and you opt-out several times, you may not receive a yearly incentive. However, your annual incentive will never be less than $0.

No installation or additional devices are required. Please note that not all electric vehicles are eligible to participate due to program requirements. Unfortunately, there is not a device that can be added to a non-eligible vehicle to allow it to participate.

Electric vehicles from the following manufacturers are generally eligible for enrollment. Note that some specific models and years are not eligible due to connection limitations, and the list is subject to change:

• Hyundai
• Jaguar
• Kia
• Land Rover
• Lexus
• Mini
• Nissan
• Tesla
• Toyota
• Volkswagen

To enroll in the program (see button above), accept the terms and conditions and use your vehicle account credentials to connect your car. If you do not have a vehicle account, go to your vehicle manufacturer’s website and find the section for owners to create an account. This username and password will then be used to connect your vehicle to the the Wattsmart Drive program.

Now that you’ve connected your vehicle, you will see your vehicle status updated in the web portal every 30 minutes. The portal will show your car’s battery status and location. When a Plug-In Perk event is happening, you’ll also see that in the web portal. 

Of course! Nothing will change in your car app, and all the controls and features will still work. You will not be notified of a Plug-in Perk event in your manufacturer’s app.

The bottom tile on the main page shows the reward progress and will indicate how many “opt-outs” (also referred to as "strikes") you have left before you lose your reward. At the end of each reward period, you will receive an email with your reward amount.

Bill credits are issued annually and are typically on your August or September bill. Bill credits are calculated based on how long your vehicle has been enrolled in the program and how many plug-in perk events you opted out of.

Incentives are issued as annual bill credits at the end of the program season, and bill credits are issued after the season in the fall. The program season runs from July through June each year.

Bill credits are based on a variety of factors, including how long you have been enrolled in the program and how many Plug-in Perk events you have chosen not to participate in.

You can earn up to $100 for your first 12 months of enrollment in the program, and up to $50 for each additional 12 months of enrollment. If you enrolled in the program midway through the program season and opt out of a minimal number of plug-in perk events, you will receive a prorated bill credit in August or September.

Every vehicle has two penalty-free opt outs per program season; each additional opt-out will reduce your annual incentive by $10. 

If you’d like to unenroll from the program, you can go to the settings menu on the web for Oregon customers. Go to the settings menu and click on the delete function (“garbage bin” icon) next to the vehicle’s name. However, if you remove yourself from the program, you will no longer be eligible for the program incentive. You can always re-enroll your vehicle or add another vehicle to your account.

Yes, you can enroll more than one eligible electric vehicle. When enrolling, you will need to use a separate email address for each vehicle.

If you remain a Pacific Power customer in Oregon, you can continue to earn your reward. If you are moving outside of Pacific Power's Oregon service area, we ask that you unenroll from the program as you will not be eligible for the participation incentive.

You can unenroll from the program before selling your vehicle.

Because of program requirements, not all electric vehicles are eligible to enroll. If you don't see your vehicle make and model, or if you experience problems enrolling, please email us at Plugin@PacificPower.net.