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BOSTON, MA - On Friday, August 20, ISO-New England
ran its first full-scale Demand Response Program test. The
surprise test was conducted to verify that participating customers
can deliver either their promised generation capacity or reductions
in energy use. Preliminary results are now in, showing that
EnerNOC over performed, delivering even more capacity than
it committed to ISO New England’s various programs.
 In
Southwest Connecticut – where the grid is particularly
vulnerable due to high growth in electricity consumption and
inadequate transmission infrastructure – EnerNOC’s
performance was most impressive, delivering load reductions
from its commercial, industrial, and municipal customers roughly
equivalent to taking 90,000 households off of the grid.
Friday’s performance may prove a watershed for demand
response programs. The test demonstrated that well-designed
– automated and verifiable – demand response programs
can deliver reliable insurance against potential electricity
shortages and outages.
"Our ultimate goal is to ensure reliability of New
England's bulk electricity grid. By participating in the Demand
Response Programs, customers make a significant contribution
to that effort," says Robert Laurita, ISO New England's
Senior Program Administrator for Demand Response. "EnerNOC
is doing an excellent job of making these programs accessible
to customers and meeting their commitments to ISO New England."
"It’s very rewarding to see such fantastic results,"
says EnerNOC President & COO David Brewster. "EnerNOC's
customers and technology really came through. Most of our
capacity was online within 10 or 15 minutes."
Despite this, however, much work remains to be done. Programs
like the one run by ISO New England are still in their infancy,
and will need to grow in size before their impact is fully
felt. "We're not going to stand around and congratulate
ourselves," says Brewster, "because we still have
a big challenge in front of us: growing the market for demand
response and recruiting more customers to participate in these
programs."
After Friday's successful test, however, recruiting customers
should get a lot easier for EnerNOC. Friday's event will net
some of EnerNOC's larger commercial and industrial customers
nearly $1 million in annual payments. Although EnerNOC's customers
only need be willing to either run their backup generators
or shed non-critical load (lighting and air conditioning,
for example) several days per year, they perform an invaluable
service: helping maintain the reliability of the wholesale
electricity grid.
About ISO New England:
ISO New England is a not-for-profit corporation responsible
for the day-to-day reliable operation of the six-state region's
bulk power generation and transmission system. For more information,
visit www.iso-ne.com.
About EnerNOC:
EnerNOC is the nation's premier full-service demand response
provider. For more information, visit www.EnerNOC.com
or call 1-888-EnerNOC.
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