Demand Response News

May 29th is the seven month mark of Superstorm Sandy ravaging the Atlantic seashore, and despite the notable progress in most regions, restoration efforts continue to move slowly in the areas most devastated - and repairs certainly haven’t come cheap, either.

At this point, most local residents of the severely-affected areas, including Staten Island, the Rockaway Peninsula in Brooklyn, Breezy Point, much of the northern New Jersey coast, and southern Long Island are aware of the insurance money they’ll have to rebound from the disaster. But they’re far from out of the woods, especially when it comes to the next phase of the storm’s devastation. Rising flood insurance premiums and elevated costs for rebuilding labor and materials can accumulate into tens of thousands of dollars of debt in no time for homeowners.

Energy Curtailment Specialists, Inc. (ECS) is helping to maintain stability on our nation’s electrical grids by paying significant dollars to commercial, industrial, retail and other facilities to assist the power grid during high-stressed times. ECS’ award-winning Demand Response program, known as PowerPay!, has proven year in and year out that demand response is of vital importance not only for the participating businesses that earn significant revenue in the program, but also for the stability of the electric grid.

On hot summer days and other times of high electricity demand, utility companies and grid operators must find ways to support the increase in electrical usage along distribution lines. Without demand response, this increase in demand may result in service interruptions, voltage reductions or possibly even blackouts, which in turn could create millions of dollars of lost revenue when businesses can’t operate “in the dark” and multi-millions of dollars more in damage to a facility’s equipment or processes that cannot withstand the voltage fluctuations.

In what is the second bill introduced recently to reinforce the idea of energy efficiency in the last month, a major financial breakthrough could clear a path towards substantial renewable energy growth in the US.

The Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act, or MLP Parity Act for short, is a simple, 600 word bill that sets out to address Congress for permission to define renewable energy companies in the same way as coal, oil and gas companies from a capital costs perspective. To understand how being classified as a Master Limited Partnership (MLP) would benefit a company, it’s important to understand how an MLP can be classified, and the advantages that are in play. Different corporate structures, like sole proprietorships, partnerships, S-corporations, C-corporations, and so forth have different means of personal responsibility, taxation standards, and cash flow generation.

Despite all the bickering across party lines on a daily basis on Capitol Hill, and the near-guarantee that Democrats and Republicans will be unable to agree on energy reform anytime soon in Congress, there appears to be at least a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. Regardless of political preference, the basic truth is that energy efficiency helps in so many ways environmentally and economically, and usually at a very small cost, if any, to John Q. Public.

This week, the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, reintroduced by democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and republican Senator Rob Portman, makes its way to Congress after its expected approval from the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Dubbed the “Shaheen-Portman bill,” the bi-partisan effort has taken months to address specific measures and improve regulations on electric infrastructure. The bill is a modified version of a similar bill from the two senators in 2011 that passed through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee then, but drew criticism from Republicans for increasing energy efficiency program funding through the Department of Energy (DoE).

Energy Curtailment Specialists (ECS) has recently developed a new program available to any business interested in learning how to manage their energy usage through demand response. The free Energy Education Workshops are offered throughout the month and cover an assortment of topics. On April 18th, ECS will be hosting four different energy education webinars specifically for the following markets: PJM, Ontario, New York, and California.

These energy education workshops are being offered monthly. End-users in PJM, Ontario, New York, and California can learn how to participate in demand response programs.

PJM Territory: 11AM EST

As the leading privately-held demand response provider in North America, ECS simplifies the complexity of the PJM demand response programs in this exclusive workshop. A series of new rules have recently been introduced in the PJM market. These rules greatly influence how to calculate a business’ performance under the Guaranteed Load Drop baseline methodology. Those registered for this workshop will learn the details of the PJM program and how to maximize revenue through participation.

Ontario: 2PM EST

Energy Curtailment Specialists has worked with thousands of facilities across the US and Ontario for years, making them the leading expert on demand response. ECS continues to work closely with its clients in order to establish a practical and effective reduction action plan for those facilities located in the Ontario Power Authority region. Upcoming changes to the DR3 program could have an effect on a business’ participation. In this workshop, ECS will identify these changes and work with its customers to make sure they experience a seamless transition into the new DR3 program.