Why does Dominion have the Smart Cooling Rewards program? How does the program work? Dominion will install a device, also known as an A/C cycling switch, on or near your air conditioner or heat pump system.  Since it's outside, you don't need to be home during installation. During periods of high electrical use - usually the hottest days of summer - Dominion may call an “event” which means we will cycle your air conditioner or heat pump compressor on and off for defined intervals.  The fan will stay on circulating already cooled air.  The switch is programmed to cycle your AC unit half of the time it ran preceding an event. Example: If your AC runs non-stop the hour before an event, then it will run 30 minutes for each hour of the event duration. This is accomplished by running 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off. At the end of the event your AC returns to normal operation. How often will my air conditioning be cycled? When will it occur (days of week, time of day, time of year)?

How will I know when my program participation is active? How do I know when my system is being cycled? How will I be notified of a cycling event? Cycling events will be posted on the day of the event to the respective Smart Cooling Rewards web page for North Carolina and Virginia as well as participating customers' MYA page.  my ac unit fan not runningThe events are also posted to the Dominion Facebook page and Twitter.  small area ac unitsThe postings typically precede the event by an hour.ac window unit with remote Participants can also subscribe to text alerts by texting SMART to 898366. How do I request that my system not be cycled? If you would like to stop the cycling of your home's cooling system on a particular date, call 1-888-366-8280 and someone will be able to answer your questions and opt you out of that particular cycling event.