Next Generation Demand Response
Next Generation Demand Response: The Readily Available Green Energy Solution
From the September 2007 Edition of AutomatedBuildings.com
Full article is at www.automatedbuildings.com as part of the September series on Demand Response.
By Steve Schaefer, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at EnergyConnect, Inc.
Article Excerpt:
Demand response participation is growing in awareness and popularity, as this is a sustainable, green energy solution which leverages existing building automation investments, can pay for capital intensive energy reduction initiatives, and at the same time reduce carbon emitting generation.
Around for decades, demand response has been offered by utilities packaged as interruptible rates, where in return for discounted electricity prices, the utility had the right to interrupt electric use a few times per year for 4-8 hours per event.
Electric industry restructuring is providing new opportunities for building operators to participate in the electricity markets, previously the domain of the power generation community. In place of generators getting paid increasingly more money to meet escalating electric demand requirements, electric markets are paying building operators for short term electrical use shifts to keep the electric grid in balance at the same hourly price generators are paid.
As electric energy use changes on an hourly basis due to ever changing energy use patterns, so do hourly market electricity prices. When electric use increases during the day, so do hourly market prices. During the August 2007 East Coast heat wave, market prices exceeded $1.00 per kWh during the late afternoon when air conditioning use was peaking, while in comparison, the average annual retail price was approximately $.06 per kWh.
Read the full article more at AutomatedBuildings.com.
Posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 - Industry Articles