Guest Blog Post - Strategic Load Response: Uncovering the Real Value of Megawatt Reduction

We have a guest blog post today from our friends at Constellation New Energy, who have a really interesting post on electricity pricing.  For those of you who want more info, you can download a Whitepaper on the subject here.

As always, if you are a Chamber Member and want to do a Guest Blog Post, please E-mail me at mikes@lehighvalleychamber.org.
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Strategic Load Response: Uncovering the Real Value of Megawatt Reduction
By Chris Cantone, Vice President of Load Response Sales, Constellation Energy

 Under today’s market conditions, people may find it difficult to piece all the information together to determine the many possible impacts they may have on their business.  The same is true within the Demand Response market.  Customers that have the ability to reduce their load consumption, may not be aware of the “options” that are available to them -- in particular, the difference between Demand Response and Load Response.  Last week, I was honored to join Marianne Hedin, senior analyst of Pike Research, in a conversation about the common myths as well as new, innovative programs with more than 200 energy consumers during a webinar we presented with Environmental Leader.

The webinar titled, “Strategic Load Response: Uncovering the Real Value of Your Megawatt Reduction,” provided Marianne and I the chance to present pertinent information about the many options customers have available to them today, and with a proper Load Response Strategy, customers can maximize the value they get from their ability to curtail load.  Some highlights of what we presented include:  

• A general definition of what demand response (DR) is, its historical context, and why load response programs exists
• Examples of DR, and how it is different than energy efficiency
• Why DR is continuing to grow more popular
• Market dynamics – Who the key DR market players are and the key drivers and challenges
• What’s in store for demand response
• The distinction between demand response and load response, including market and customer benefits
• How load response complements renewable energy
• The different types of load response programs such as, permanent and responsive solutions.
• An overview of program options that are available to customers including Capacity Programs, Ancillary Services, Economic Programs, Constellation Peak Response Programs, and Constellation Price Response Programs
• How Technology can provide value to help maximize customers Load Response participation

Following our presentation, we were happy to continue the conversation with an extensive Q&A session. Among the dozens of great questions we received, we were asked how customers are expected to identify significant load reductions that limit the impact to their operations?  

This is a commonly asked question as many companies do not have the manpower to dedicate towards this. Most curtailment service providers or CSPs will help customers indentify what type of equipment they can use as part of their curtailment plan.  However, that is only the initial step in helping customers understand how they can participate in programs.  Once you have a list of equipment that can be used, the next step is to collaborate with the customer to better understand the impact of curtailment will have on their operations and overall to the business. 

By taking the additional step to understand the customer’s willingness to curtail and determining their appetite for the amount of participation, we can align the customer’s ability with the best programs available.  Customers may have certain equipment that can be shut down for hours in length, but they may also have equipment that can only be interrupted for 10’s of minutes.  By taking a Load Response approach, each piece of equipment has a value and can help customers participate in multiple programs.

Marianne added that many commercial and industrial customers have participated in load and demand response programs by focusing on non-mission critical related operations at times designated for curtailing load.

While we answered many great questions during the webinar, we received more that I plan to shed some light on in future blog posts, so please check back.

As part of the webinar, we worked with Environmental Leader to draft a white paper. To download the white paper, go here: http:// constellation.com/ellrwp.

If you attended the webinar and have additional questions or if you didn’t attend but have questions about load response, please leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as you can.

For more energy market news and insights, visit Constellation Energy’s Energy4Business Blog: http://blogs.constellation.com/energy4business.