Also see Feature Article:
University of Pittsburgh Journal of Technology Law & Policy: 02.2007
Demand Response Technology – What it is and why it’s important
Link to Article
What is “demand response”?
Demand response is the concept of end-use customers changing their electric energy usage in response to changes in electricity rates or incentives provided by utility companies. The goal for utility companies is to lower system-wide demand during peak times through controlled loads rather than building additional power generation infrastructure. Demand response, although around for years, is emerging now as utilities’ most promising method of dealing with increased pressure on their supply during high usage times such as summer peak hours. It is less expensive for utilities to create incentives for industrial and commercial users to lower their energy demand during peak times than it is for utilities to produce additional electricity and sell it to those who cannot alter their energy consuming behavior.
Why is demand response important to you?
Utilities are developing programs and rate schedule adjustments designed to promote participation in demand response. The ability to join these demand response incentive programs and take advantage of lower rates is an opportunity for significant energy cost savings.
How can Powerit Solutions use demand response to achieve energy savings?
The challenge of participating in demand response programs is doing it without damaging your business. Energy usage is closely coupled with production, product quality, and building comfort for industrial and commercial applications. In the past, demand response was prone to error as it was handled by manual operators turning loads on and off. The Energy Director by Powerit Solutions allows demand response for the industrial end-user to finally be automated. Load reduction is coordinated and choreographed with the needs of production such that demand response can be used as a tool for savings or taking advantage of incentives offered by the utility without all-or-nothing compromises. The tailored protective nature of industrial demand control provided by the Energy Director allows facility managers to aggressively pursue controlled load reduction with the confidence that productivity remains the top priority.
Primary Features and Benefits:
- User-determined demand response setpoint
- Verification of demand response levels and duration
- Rolling load reduction action vs. fixed load reduction (a changing mix of loads can be used to achieve the desired kW reduction, allowing more flexibility in production uptime)
- Remote demand response activation and monitoring
- Demand response alarming and notification (email, pager, phone, etc…)
