Demand Response (DR) is a viable business solution that enables you to receive payments when you reduce your energy consumption during emergencies and other critical periods of the regional electric grid. Simply it is the temporary reduction or shift of electrical usage by commercial, industrial or institutional operations in response to an alert or price signal. The reduction of energy is used to offset occasional and temporary demand spikes or supply shortfalls on the power grid.
And it is our core business at NAPP. Demand Response is an increasingly accepted initiative to develop clean, reliable energy resources to meet growth in electric demand across the USA.
Demand Response addresses the most prevalent energy issues: high energy costs, energy reliability, aging energy infrastructure, diminishing energy reserves, environmental concerns, and GHG emission risks. Demand Response is a practical tool that directly addresses these issues.
Why is it important? Power generation and delivery systems have remained relatively unchanged for decades. The same aging and inefficient systems continue to produce and move electricity to meet our nation’s ever-growing demand for power, becoming a dominant source of our nation’s air pollution.
And since electricity cannot be stored in large quantities, excess generation supply always needs to be available in reserve. Building new generating plants, or maintaining stand-by generation to supply our needs when energy demand peaks, is very costly - both financially and environmentally. .How do you, the energy user, make a difference? By being available to shift or reduce a portion of your electric usage several times per year, NAPP customers actually become a power resource. Rather than generate more power to meet the need– Our customers’ Demand Response temporarily reduces the electric demand. Through NAPP’s programs, our customers help increase grid reliability and prevent blackouts simply by being available and on-call to reduce their electric demand when the power grid needs it most.
NAPP and its participating customers provide a reliable, predictable amount of power reduction (megawatts) that the ISOs and RTOs (the power grid operators) can count on during an emergency, when energy supplies are low, or when there is an inadequate amount of available power generation.
What are the benefits to me as a NAPP customer? Overall, NAPP programs provide customers with an ultimate strategic asset management plan that allows industrial and commercial facilities to efficiently manage energy consumption and move excess capacity and energy into the grid. NAPP manages the excess resources in the electric wholesale power market which attributes significant value for these “clean energy power resources”. In addition to the payments, it teaches you more about how you use energy. This awareness leads to other energy efficient operating measures that help you reduce utility costs and reduce carbon emissions.
How does it work? NAPP works with its customers to identify the portion of electric load at each facility that can be reduced – aligning customers’ objectives to generate revenues while limiting impact on facility operations. Some ways that customers reduce their energy usage include idling equipment, shutting down processes, raising thermostats, or reducing lighting. NAPP will provide the metering technology and transaction systems required to participate in our Demand Response programs with no out of pocket costs to our customers.
