Utility Horizons - Second Quarter 2013 - (Page 31)

The BLeading Edge... By Amit Narayan | Founder & CEO | AutoGrid, Inc. Demand Response: Why The Future is in the Cloud For decades, utilities have had to operate under a model of excess: generating more power and building more capacity than necessary to create a buffer against worst case scenarios. In 2006, for example, PG&E deployed 2.2GW, or ten percent, of its total capacity for only 51 hours during the year. FERC estimates that demand response services could provide up to 188 gigawatts - or 20 percent - of peak load demand. reduce the time required to implement these solutions by eliminating the need for siting, construction and permits. Demand response services in this situation would have to be “dispachable” with little or no advanced notice, ramp faster and last for shorter durations than traditional services. They would also have to target loads within subLAPs (load aggregation points) and enable valuable management of congestion constrained electric grids with subLAP granularity. Nonetheless, technology deployed in this manner would make the grid more reliable and resilient to contingencies. Appropriately deployed, demand response systems can also ease the path for integrating a greater proportion of intermittent renewables onto the grid. Lawrence Berkeley Demand response services Laboratory estimates came to the market that California will need 4 gigawatts worth of approximately a decade ago ancillary services to as a way to reduce peak meet its goal of getting power, but utilities, grid 33 percent of its power from “new” renewables operators and others have like wind and solar by come to realize that these 2020. Without more systems could fundamentally innovative approaches, this demand will be met by change the power business. additional fossil-fuel based generation capacity or grid The key, of course, is that scale storage at a cost of approximately $2,000 per demand response services kilowatt installed. Demand response will have a far lower environmental impact than traditional generators, cost up to 90 percent less than solutions like grid storage and, arguably most importantly, greatly 1 The Brattle Group recently released a survey of more than 200 energy industry experts who predict U.S. peak demand for electricity will decline by 7.5 to 15 percent compared to what it would have been without demand response. The Promise – and the Harsh Reality – of Demand Response start to give utilities the ability to manage both supply and demand, breaking down the artificial firewall that often separates “outside the meter” operations with “inside the meter” consumption. Unfortunately, demand response also remains a niche product. The cost and complexity of implementing and using most systems have largely limited these services to large, investor-owned utilities and their largest, See FERC Report at http://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/06-09-demand-response.pdf www.UtilityHorizons.com Q2 - 2013 • UTILITY HORIZONS • 31  http://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/06-09-demand-response.pdf http://www.UtilityHorizons.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Utility Horizons - Second Quarter 2013

Utility Horizons - Second Quarter 2013
Publisher’s Message
Contents
The Queue
Automation Rising!
Inside Tracks
Focal Point
Automation and Innovation at Epcor Water Services
BLeading Edge: Advanced Technology Perspectives
Consumer Engagement: The Future Goes Mobile
Demand Response: Why the Future Is in the Cloud
Building Paths to Smarter Water Management
Bullet-Proofing Your Scada System Against the Evil-Doers
Education Matters
Standard Bearings
Regulation De Rigueur
On the Horizon
Purviews
Intersections
Eventualities
Thinking It Through With Sparky Flamedrop
Loose Ends

Utility Horizons - Second Quarter 2013

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