Demand Reduction and Limiting with ALC’s WebCtrl

 Demand Response has been a Utility Program for decades.  Today, there is an increased need and incentive for these programs throughout many regions of the U.S.  Utilities, Grid Operators and the U.S. Government agencies including FERC are encouraging the expansion of these programs for many reasons.  Some of these reasons include the aging grid infrastructure, the high cost to build or operate additional power plants for Peak Demand and the capability to stabilize the electrical grid system to keep the system online during a Peak Load Event.  Peak Load Events can add 80% additional electrical load to the grid system compared to an average load demand period.  One of the main reasons is the increase of HVAC usage during extreme hot and cold temperature days. 

In San Antonio, with the growth being reported around 24% annually, it becomes an issue of meeting demand with the existing power plants or potentially having to build power plants.

Facilities that are willing to participate in these programs have the opportunity for financial incentives from the Utilities or a Demand Response provider.  The first incentive is signing up for a program.  The facility gets a onetime payment to sign a contract based on their kW reduction target that they agree to.  After the KW Reduction is set, there is a test for the program.  This gives the facility operations the ability to understand their loads throughout the facility and where the load reductions can be accomplished.

If a facility is committed to the Demand Response Program, it also could help them start a Energy Management Plan for the facility.  If the DR Provider does offers a load study of the facility, this information can be used by the operations staff to understand where there electrical loads are, which ones are the highest and what can be reduced during the Demand Response Event.  This information could also be used to reduce Peak Demand Charges.  As part of the Demand Response Program, the Demand Response provider will require electrical metering of the facility.  

Using Automated Logic WebCtrl for your Demand Response Program you can easily automate the Demand Response Load Reductions and report the kW reductions during an event to the Demand Response Provider.  Once the pulse meter is connected to WebCtrl, it could also be used to report the electrical demand (kW) and consumption (kWh) for the facility using the new Energy Reporting features in WebCtrl.  

Doyle Jennings with Oak Hills Church, an avid enthusiast of energy conservation, managed to save his 150,000 square-foot facility approximately 300-500kW every time he received the demand response phone call from CPS.  He accomplished this by using the Automated Logic WebCtrl System to schedule various areas and monitor the usage while he shifted the load in the building.  With the two hour notice he was given, he was able to cut his average usage of 600-700kW in half!  

ALC will be hosting a Demand Reduction and Limiting Workshop with CPS on March 30, 2011. 

Automated Logic will discuss and demonstrate the benefits of WebCtrl to achieve demand response and demand limiting. 

Join ALC at the TASBO 65th Annual Conference in Austin, Texas

Jerry Blizzard, an Account Executive with Automated Logic Corporation, will be teaching and presenting on the following:

Custodial Staffing and Organizing (Course MAO103)

Educational Session A- Making the Most of Your Building Controls