Is your load management system delivering maximum benefits for your cooperative?  With the increasing costs of natural gas and the renewed emphasis on demand-side management, electric cooperatives are taking a hard look at load management as an asset for better controlling power costs and mitigating risks in the wholesale power markets.  Even if a cooperative has low capacity costs in the power market due to current market conditions, maintenance and restoration of an existing load management system are often justifiable based on energy prices (due to higher gas prices) and market risk reduction.

Many cooperatives have load management systems that consist primarily of direct load control switches that shed water heaters and air conditioners or heat pumps during periods of peak demand.  Many of these systems were installed over 10 years ago and may not be delivering the maximum benefits.
 

EnerVision recently completed a load management field inspection project for a Southeastern G&T cooperative.  The purpose of the project was to physically inspect a statistically valid sample of direct load control switches and determine the percentage of switches that were actually operating.  EnerVision worked closely with the G&T and its distribution cooperatives to select the random sample, contact customers, schedule the on-site inspections, and document the findings in a database.  The information gathered from the inspections was used to help the G&T quantify the benefits of its load management program, as well as determine options for optimizing and potentially expanding the system.

New technologies for direct load control now provide electric cooperatives with greater control options.  Many use existing communications infrastructure, such as paging networks.  This can significantly reduce the cost of deploying a new load management system while providing customers with more flexible rate options.  In addition, load management devices are now being incorporated directly into thermostats and some water heater manufacturers are exploring options for factory installing load management switches into new water heaters.  Cooperatives should be evaluating these new technologies to enhance or replace existing load management systems.

EnerVision has worked with numerous cooperatives on load management programs and can provide a wide variety of services including field inspections, cost-benefit analysis, system selection evaluation, program design and implementation support services.  For additional information on EnerVision’s load management capabilities, please contact Charles Nash at charles.nash@enervision-inc.com or by phone at 1-888-999-8840, ext. 7671.