Demand Response
What is Demand Response?
The balance between electric supply and demand in the United States has destabilized over the past 25 years. Opposition to new fossil fuel and nuclear power generation plants coupled with the steady growth of the economy has created power shortages in certain regions of the US during peak usage periods. This scenario has been exacerbated by the explosive growth of data center construction in the past ten years. There are also challenges related to regional transmission networks. Isolated pockets of new growth throughout the country do not have access to traditional sources of electrical power supply. However, for every market challenge there is opportunity.
Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), also referred to as Independent System Operators (ISOs) have emerged in the market as a more visible entity over the past five years. They are primarily responsible for the stability of the electric grid on a regional basis. They have been tasked with deploying strategies and programs to offset the demand shortages in their respective service territories.
It has long been recognized that wholesale electric markets will be more efficient and reliable when there is a significant number of end-users who can temporarily alter their electric consumption upon an alert for either economic or emergency purposes. Recent changes in regulatory and market conditions have spurred the development of these so called "demand response programs" in which participants are asked to temporarily reduce their electric consumption or demand in return for financial incentives. The alerts typically occur during high peak periods and/or system emergencies and usually last between 1 to 4 hours. The reduction in electric consumption is generally achieved by operating generators, energy management measures or through load curtailment. Although these peak periods generally occur during the summer months, there are opportunities to participate and thus receive incentives during the shoulder months of the year. These demand response programs provide a true "win-win" situation where the efficiency and reliability of the electric infrastructure is improved while also providing participants with measurable financial benefits.
Enerwise offers participants a turnkey solution that will manage regulatory, operational, metering, monitoring, and notification requirements that facilitate seamless and pain free participation.
Enerwise is a member of the Pennsylvania, Jersey, Maryland ISO (PJM) as a registered Curtailment Service Provider or CSP. We possess the knowledge, skill sets and experience necessary to proactively manage these demand response events and extract value from customer energy assets that are typically in place. Enerwise participates in other ISO markets in North America such as New York ISO either directly with C&I power users or through strategic partners where market conditions warrant. Enerwise provides a suite of web based tools designed to manage the tactical energy curtailment activities and settle demand response events. This fully integrated real time energy system gives managers insight to critical data from multiple locations. The centerpiece of Enerwise's hands on approach to the demand response business is their 24x7 manned Information Command Center or ICC. This fully automated data center provides participants the comfort and trust necessary to manage their everyday energy procurement decisions for their respective business while maximizing the energy assets necessary to optimize their energy consumption strategies. The Enerwise solution can be delivered on an Application Service Provider basis, reducing the need for internal information technology professionals and dedicated servers. The system is intuitive and easy to use. The Enerwise tools provide participants the ability to maintain and continually refine their energy management strategies by flexibly aggregating and comparing energy information, alarming and notification through a centralized system.
It is simply not enough to explain the energy procurement opportunities available through demand response programs to our prospective customers. Enerwise energy professionals are also available to provide energy history usage analysis and consulting services to identify and deploy best practice energy management measures for our customers.
For more information, call 800-307-3395, or email sales@enerwise.com