Session Overview
DR Products & Solutions Uncovered
Track: DR-Expo Technology Track
October 16-17, 2007
Wednesday 8:30 - 10:00
While the basics of DR is well understood, the leverage of today’s Internet world needs to be carefully considered to ensure successful implementation of event based automated demand response as well as the future of real-time pricing that enables fine-tuning of energy consuming systems to the supply dynamics of energy from energy providers.
In this session, experts and vendors will present a number of important products and solutions that have been designed to facilitate the implementation of DR in today’s commercial and industrial facilities.
Matthew Plante
Director of Business Development – PJM
EnerNOC, Inc
Panelist
Presentation (pdf)
Demand response provides facilities with advance notice of potential fluctuations in power quality and reliability. Participating facilities can protect their operations and receive a steady revenue stream for acting as demand side resources—at no cost and minimal risk. Demand response also provides them with the ability to manage and control costs. Yet, surprisingly few facilities take advantage of demand response programs.
In the presenter’s experience, two common barriers prevent facilities from participating in demand response: They underestimate the value of shedding load to the grid and overestimate the hassles involved with participation. The presenter will assuage these doubts by presenting examples of participating facilities that respond to demand response events and demonstrate the ease of participation and benefits to the grid.
In addition, technology to facilitate demand response execution has advanced significantly in the last five years, greatly simplifying participation requirements, making demand response more accessible for many facilities, and improving its efficacy, reliability, and value. The presenter will share the latest, innovative demand response technologies that simplify demand response participation further and allow for real-time visibility into demand, remote curtailment at facilities, automatic adjustment to lighting and HVAC, self-initiation of backup generation, and even contingency based, controlled shut downs (complete or partial) at facilities.
Paul Silverthorne
President & CEO
Dimax Controls
Panelist
Presentation (pdf)
In August, 2007, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) in Canada issued its final rules for its new DR3 Demand Response program. The program is aimed at creating an availability of some 1500 MW of power through the curtailment of demand by subscribers during contracted windows of availability. The key objective is to trim the peak demand in Ontario, which has been as high as 27,005 MW in August, 2006.
The interesting issue which we expect will ultimately arise is that once the first phase of DR has been implemented in Ontario, the shape of the predictable daily demand pattern will begin to change, and the objective of avoiding upward of 1,500 MW of demand will evolve to an objective of better prediction matching for cost efficiency. This will likely result in a changing DR environment over the next several years, which will affect the manner in which DR is implemented both at customer sites and in the Province of Ontario.
This presentation will look at the new program in Ontario, how it relates to building automation systems and how to scale the opportunity beyond the present program guidelines.