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BOSTON, MA and SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The California
ISO (CAISO) summer 2005 forecast expects reserve capacity margins
to fall precariously low during adverse events such as sustained
hot weather or a series of unplanned plant outages. Low margin
conditions greatly increase the probability of brownouts and blackouts,
events not unfamiliar to Californians.
Businesses are not powerless to prevent these situations, however,
as statewide programs exist that are designed to help support the
grid through energy conservation and emergency demand response. During
CAISO’s Summer Assessment press event earlier this year, the California
Grocers Association (CGA) was commended for the leadership its membership
has shown in these programs during past energy crises. This summer, the
CAISO is again looking to CGA members for significant levels of demand
reduction during electric capacity shortages.
CGA President Peter Larkin said, "The CGA is proud of our member
organizations for the collaborative effort they have put toward relieving
California’s electricity troubles through conservation and demand
response initiatives. We encourage each member to continue their resourceful
involvement in energy saving programs."
The retail food industry may find it more challenging to make a sizeable
impact this time around, however. As high electric prices in recent years
significantly increased operating expenses, most grocers made substantial
improvements in energy usage at stores to avoid passing costs onto customers,
thereby lowering average demand. Today, new technologies must be employed to
capture additional demand reduction.
Raley’s Family of Fine Stores is one company that has participated in
emergency demand response before and looks forward to participating this
summer to keep power flowing to the communities and customers it serves.
"Our stores are using less energy now than several years ago,"
said Ed Estberg, Senior Director of Facilities at Raley’s. "This
might mean fewer opportunities to participate in demand response, but technology
improvements allow us to now curtail load from lighting, air conditioning, and
other devices that was not possible previously. We are again enacting measures
to secure the safety of our products and customers," he added.
In order for Raley’s to participate across all of its facilities it must
employ a centralized technology solution that allows it to rapidly curtail
load in response to emergency events. EnerNOC, the provider of this solution,
works with numerous supermarket chains nationwide offering no-risk,
rapidly-deployable technology solutions for shedding electrical load to help
keep the lights on across multiple facilities. The company provides no-cost,
engineering-grade audits that define demand reduction opportunities and is
prepared to enable hundreds of stores with its technology-based solutions to
maximize grocer participation in California.
About the CGA:
The California Grocers Association is a non-profit, statewide trade
association representing the food industry since 1898. CGA represents
approximately 500 retail members operating over 6,000 food stores in
California and Nevada, and approximately 300 grocery supplier companies.
Retail membership includes chain and independent supermarkets, convenience
stores and mass merchandisers.
About EnerNOC:
EnerNOC, Inc. is the leading provider of demand response,
price response, and demand side management solutions to the
commercial and industrial markets in the United States. EnerNOC
delivers immediate, profitable results to customers by leveraging
its deep experience in all aspects of energy management, commercial
contracting, and embedded systems technology. For more information
visit www.enernoc.com.
About Raley's:
Raley's is a privately-owned supermarket chain with headquarters in
West Sacramento, CA. The company is comprised of four chains – Raley's,
Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods and Food Source – located in Northern
California, Nevada and New Mexico.
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