Grid Operators in the US deregulated energy markets need only look west to California and the Golden State’s recent barrage of rolling blackouts for a reminder of how an ambitious but unchecked drive to a renewable fuel mix can threaten grid reliability. California’s charge over the last two decades toward a carbon-free future has led … Continue reading New England Seeks to Balance Renewables and Grid Reliability

Texans love a good fight, especially if there is a lot riding on the outcome and the battle comes down to the wire only to be won in the waning seconds by the last fighter standing.  Maybe that’s why ERCOT’s Load Resource demand response program has been a favorite of commercial organizations in the Lone … Continue reading ERCOT’s Effective and Lucrative Last Bastion Against Blackouts

Are You Earning Revenue From Your Energy Savings? Has your organization completed an energy efficiency project in the last two years? Are you planning on completing a project before June of 2021? If the answer is yes – you are likely eligible for earnings in addition to the savings your project is already delivering for up … Continue reading Are You Earning Revenue From Your Energy Savings? (Webinar)

60 minutes with CPower Experts. Energy Insights to Plan Your 2020 and Beyond. 2020 was poised to be a big year in energy before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown. As the country works its way through the pandemic’s maze, organizations like yours are reexamining their energy management strategies in search of … Continue reading SOTM 2020 Webinar Series

  On May 14th, in response to COVID-19 related challenges and recommendations raised by stakeholders,  the New York Public Service Commission issued an Order directing most of the utilities to implement several changes to their Dynamic Load Management (DLM) tariffs to become effective as of June 1st. These changes will impact the Commercial System Relief … Continue reading PSC Order on NY Utility DR Program Changes for Summer 2020 – Market Minute (Video)

Since December of last year,  the truly brave men and women in the healthcare industry that are treating and saving the lives of COVID-19 patients come to work, put in uncountable hours, and in every second of that chaotic day risk exposure to the worst disease we have seen in a very long time. New … Continue reading Brave.

    In 2015, PJM announced that it was retiring its seasonal emergency capacity demand response programs and replacing them with a single, year-round program called Capacity Performance, or CP. June 2020 was set as the first season that PJM would offer CP as their only capacity program. June 2020 is just a few months … Continue reading PJM in Motion (Environment + Energy Leader Webinar)

Submit your question to the Energy Engineer’s Notebook: Fill out the form below and your question may be the subject of an Energy Engineer’s Notebook episode. (If your question isn’t selected for an episode, a CPower engineer will get back to you with an answer.)  

Submit your question to the Energy Engineer’s Notebook: Fill out the form below and your question may be the subject of an Energy Engineer’s Notebook episode. (If your question isn’t selected for an episode, a CPower engineer will get back to you with an answer.)

State-of-the-art battery storage, an innovative solar PV system, and “stacked” demand management programs provide energy savings, steady revenue, reduced greenhouse gases, and grid reliability for this revolutionary institution.

The year is 2040. Grid modernization has seen the integration of large-scale storage and renewables overtake traditional fossil fuel and nuclear generation. Sustainability, grid reliability, and energy technologies have been major drivers for a modern grid structure. Customers have become more connected and engaged with their utilities and drive the utility business model beyond selling … Continue reading White Paper: The Changing Energy Landscape and New Demand Side Management Opportunities (Navigant)

In August 2019, ERCOT, the Texas-area independent system operator (ISO), initiated an unprecedented two demand response events–the first in Texas since 2015. These demand response events helped prevent brownouts and blackouts on the grid and protected the community as well as the state’s economy from suffering losses due to power outages. Organizations that participated in these demand … Continue reading ERCOT Demand Response: How to Maximize Your Revenue and Resilience in America’s Most Interesting Energy Market.

This Navigant Research webinar looked at what is happening today that is driving to the grid of the future. Brett Feldman, research director at Navigant Research; Mathew Sachs, senior vice president of strategic planning and business development at CPower; and Terry Sobolewski, president of National Grid Rhode Island, discussed the many factors driving the modernization of the grid and where energy consumers should keep their focus today as the grid of the future is shaped before us.

Demand Response has evolved dramatically in just the last few years from a mechanism of simply “turning things off” to being an integrated component of grid design and customer-centric controls over energy costs and supply needs. Integrated management of demand is becoming a more accurate perspective in today’s energy landscape.

Today, demand response and demand management are key components of the three pillars that make up the foundation of the modern energy grid: Reliability, Resiliency, and Sustainability.

More and more, healthcare facilities managers are dedicating resources to behind-the-meter solutions in the pursuit of resilience: To protect themselves from gridwide power outages, continue to provide care and safety to patients and staff, and maintain a reliable electricity supply to support their operations without degradation or interruption. This CPower webinar focuses on ways that these same behind-the-meter energy assets can provide significant savings, generate important revenue, and maximize the return on your investments.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, an estimated 20-50% of industrial energy input is lost as waste heat. Many industrial organizations in the U.S. have learned how to recover waste heat, yet few understand how to monetize it. Industrial waste heat is the energy generated in an industrial process that is not put to … Continue reading How to Monetize Electricity from Waste Stream Recovery

Uncertainty is the arch-nemesis of business. In planning for 2020, it appears our old foe has the upper hand Is 2020 a year for your organization to get aggressive and try to expand? Or is it a year to sit tight and see what happens? Maybe it’s time to pull back on the reins. Chances … Continue reading Why U.S. Energy Expenditure Share is the Metric Your Organization Needs to Understand

60 minutes with CPower Experts. Energy Insights to Plan Your Year. At CPower, we know that running your organization’s day-to-day affairs is challenging enough without having to stay on top of the latest developments in the energy industry.  That’s why we created the State of Demand-Side Energy Management in North America webinar series, a market-by-market … Continue reading SOTM 2019 Webinar Series

Ideas for sustaining balance in the US industrial sector in 2019 and beyond. In this Smart Energy Decisions webinar, CPower’s experts discuss the energy-related issues affecting the US manufacturing industrial sector and explore demand-side energy management options aimed to help manufacturers offset soon-to-be rising energy costs without sacrificing their productivity.

This white paper highlights critical insights for utilities into the implementation of future customer-focused DR programs, given the rapidly changing and distributed energy grid. Utilities with existing DR programs that are either underperforming or otherwise failing to yield desired results may look to the considerations and case studies to strengthen their existing DR portfolio and meet customer needs.

Are you ready for the 2019 demand response season? Our program information and On Demand Webinar resources will help make you successful in your programs in 2019. Here, you’ll find program information, key dates (like communication drills), your CPower contacts, market information, dispatch information and more.

During this webinar, Jessie Mehrhoff, research analyst at Navigant Research; Paul Wassink, senior engineer at National Grid; Martha Grover, energy efficiency manager in the Office of Planning and Community Development for the City of Melrose; and JP Harper, vice president of National sales at CPower, will explain the history and current status of utility DR programs and what the implications and opportunities are for C&I customers. The webinar will also provide case studies of successful utility DR program participation with CPower and National Grid.

One of the Reforming Energy Vision’s primary goals includes renewable sources generating 70% of the state’s electricity by 2030. To do that, the New York grid seeks to implement distributed energy resources into its fuel mix. How might New York’s energy market be redesigned to incorporate DERs like solar, energy storage, and others? NYISO’s proposed … Continue reading The Push for Renewables in New York

When it comes to capacity prices in New York state, the story changes depending on the geographic region. Capacity prices are historically low right now in upstate New York but increase through the Lower Hudson Valley toward New York City, due to transmission constraints. The announced retirement of Indian Point nuclear facility scheduled for 2020 … Continue reading New York City: high capacity prices, many demand-side energy management options

In the near future, organizations with flexible resources at their disposal will have an advantage when it comes to earning money for helping the grid. California is committed to integrating renewables into its electrical grid. The load-shift product is set to launch in November 2019. In its wake, expect a series of flexible resource products … Continue reading The best way to manage your energy in California? Be Flexible.

California experiences a daily spike in energy demand in the early evening when renewable sources like solar go offline and residents come home from work and increase their energy consumption by flipping on their air conditioning, turning on their lighting, doing laundry, charging electronic devices, and engaging in other energy-consuming activities. When charted on a … Continue reading Has California finally solved “The Duck Curve?”

The Global Adjustment was introduced in 2006 to help Ontario cover the difference between electricity’s market rate and the contractually higher rates the provincial government had agreed to pay new generators in an attempt to stimulate private investment in Ontario’s generation system. All Ontario electricity customers pay global adjustment to cover the cost of the … Continue reading Is Global Adjustment in Ontario here to stay?

By the early-1990s, Ontario’s energy grid faced dire reliability and economic concerns. Many of the nuclear generation plants powering the province had been built in the 1970s and were starting to prematurely show their age, declining in efficiency and reliability. More recently-built nuclear stations had riddled Ontario Hydro (Ontario’s then publicly-owned and lone electric utility) … Continue reading The Ontario Market: a (very) brief history

Of the demand response programs that ERCOT offers, Load Resource offers the most lucrative potential–particularly during the summer months when demand on the grid is at or near its peak. Simply put, ERCOT’s tight reserve margin is brought about by diminished supply and growing electrical demand, which in turn causes high energy prices in Texas … Continue reading How to hedge against Load Resource proration in ERCOT

When the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) established Texas’ deregulated energy market in 1999, it had several very Texan ideals in mind. For starters, the market’s architects sought good old-fashioned economic competition to keep electricity prices stable and the state’s grid reliable. They also settled on another battle-tested Texan value concerning its energy market: … Continue reading Why doesn’t Texas have a Capacity Market?

ISO-NE’s implementation of its price-responsive demand construct has led to several changes in its demand response programs. Three key changes for 2019: DR programs are now dispatched based on economic (instead of emergency) conditions. DR is now considered fast-acting DR and must be dispatched within 30 minutes of the grid’s call for curtailment. DR resources … Continue reading Demand Response in New England: The more things change…

Currently, there are two developmental shifts taking place in New England concerning the electricity grid. The grid is shifting from conventional generation to renewable energy. The grid is also shifting from centrally dispatched generation to distributed energy resources. What was formerly a traditional power system is becoming a hybrid system with electricity needs met by … Continue reading New England’s Emerging Hybrid Grid

Summer 2019 is right around the corner, which means another season of PJM’s Emergency Capacity demand response (DR) program is set to kick off. This 2019/2020 marks an important pivot point for DR in PJM. With DR enrollment underway, let’s take a look at some things to expect this summer. 

On January 2, 2014, a sudden stratospheric warming caused a breakdown of the polar vortex, a semi-permanent low-pressure system of cold polar air that helps the jet stream maintain a roughly circular path as it travels around the globe. A healthy polar vortex keeps the jet stream in line, which in turn keeps the cold … Continue reading What has PJM learned from the Polar Vortex?

Peak-shaving, essentially the practice of an organization reducing its demand during times of peak grid stress to lower its capacity charges, is part of what the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is considering as the agency examines PJM’s annual capacity construct. In a June 2018 proposal, PJM stated it hoped to reduce its capacity market demand … Continue reading Is Peak Shaving more Lucrative than Demand Response in PJM?

In our last ERCOT blog post, we laid out the record high demand/historically low supply scenario facing ERCOT and its customers this summer. As we reported, ERCOT acknowledges that this situation could result in emergency energy alerts. This will more than likely result in high electricity prices, perhaps record high prices. If you participate in … Continue reading Dirty Power: The Story Behind UFR and ERCOT’s LR Demand Response

Energy Risk, Reserves, and Revenue and what it all means to you. Join CPower on March 21st as we help you understand the causes and effects of low reserve margins. Joe and Mike will detail how the ever-increasing importance of demand response (DR) programs might not only help save the day for grid reliability, but create tremendous revenue opportunities for you, too.

Why should you consider the Act 129 Demand Response Program for commercial and industrial customers in Pennsylvania? Join CPower on February 21st at 10 AM EST as we walk you through this lucrative program and show you how to help support your utility and the grid while increasing your revenue earning potential.

UPDATE March 5: ERCOT announced today that, due to expected record high demand and “historically low” 7.4% expected reserve margin, they have “identified a potential need to call an energy [emergency] alert at various times this summer.” (Emphasis ours.) Alerts allow ERCOT to take advantage of resources available only during scarcity conditions—particularly demand response. ERCOT … Continue reading ERCOT Summer 2019: Supply, Demand, and Red-Hot Energy Prices

Distributed Energy Resources (DER), including storage, are proliferating the world of energy management in a big way. Today, these assets are primarily implemented to provide operational resilience and demand management; however, additional opportunities are rapidly evolving. As intelligent application of DER assets increases for commercial and government sectors, the opportunity to leverage these same assets … Continue reading Webinar (2/14/2019): Dispatchable Dollars: How Demand Response Creates Revenue Opportunities For DER

Distributed Energy Resources such as energy efficiency, solar photovoltaic, energy storage, gensets, and electric vehicles have started to proliferate and become eligible for energy market participation. This webinar from Navigant and CPower will provide some background on the technologies, highlight the major integration issues, and offer recommendations for customers to choose the right vendor for their situation.

Energy efficiency (EE) projects help the grid and create savings for customers by permanently curtailing energy use. What you may not know is that those same projects can actually generate revenue on top of savings by enrollment in lucrative demand response curtailment programs.

Join CPower and Energy Management Systems, Inc. as we reveal how enrolling EE projects in PJM’s capacity market can create a steady revenue stream for up to four years after you’ve completed your project.

The clock has started ticking down on backup generators in California’s demand response programs. On January 1, 2019, the California Public Utilities Commission’s Demand Response Prohibited Resources decision officially takes effect. The decision (officially Decision 16-09-056) mandates that fossil-fueled resources can no longer be used to provide demand response. The decision doesn’t remove fossil fuel … Continue reading Now What? California Demand Response in a Post-Fossil Fuels World

In this white paper, we’ll explore the various forms that demand-side energy management takes. We’ll look at how one university seized the opportunity to generate significant revenue from demand response participation and succeeded spectacularly. Finally, we’ll examine distributed energy resources and how another university found an innovative way to both optimize their energy program and maximize their revenue with intelligent storage.

Virginia Beach, VA – Faced with the prospect of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in demand response revenue, this Virginia Beach site discovered a way to keep the money flowing without interruption. THE CUSTOMER: LAKE GASTON WATER SUPPLY PIPELINE The Lake Gaston Water Supply Pipeline, also known simply as Lake Gaston, is at the heart … Continue reading Case Study: Lake Gaston Water Supply Pipeline

The data center industry’s push over the last decade toward a more efficient and sustainable future has come at a serendipitous time when energy markets in the US and Canada are working to reduce demand via energy efficiency investments and to integrate distributed energy resources (DERs) onto their energy grids in an attempt to diversify their fuel mixes.

In this paper, CPower’s Meg Kelly will explain how organizations can earn revenue for their qualified energy efficiency (EE) projects by offering their permanently reduced demand into PJM’s forward capacity market. The paper will detail what types of projects qualify for monetization and the best practices for measuring and verifying EE projects so they can … Continue reading Monetizing Energy Efficiency Projects in PJM

Data centers are in demand. The growth of cloud computing and the subsequent challenge of powering big data has led to a data center construction boom. A 2018 industry profile by Dun & Bradstreet predicts data center space to grow to 1.94 billion square feet worldwide in 2018. Much of the industry’s new construction aims … Continue reading How Energy Efficient Data Centers Can Earn More Than Customer Loyalty

The data center industry’s recent push toward a more efficient and sustainable future comes at a serendipitous time when energy markets around the country are working to reduce demand via energy efficiency investments and to integrate distributed energy resources (DERs) onto their energy grids in an attempt to diversify their fuel mixes. This paper offers a detailed explanation of how a data center can monetize its existing energy assets with demand-side energy management.

Demand response aggregators have been enrolling commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in DR programs for two decades. More recently, other types of Distributed Energy Resources such as energy efficiency, solar photovoltaic, energy storage, gensets, and electric vehicles have started to proliferate and become eligible for energy market participation. However, it is not necessarily a simple endeavor…

The recent and rapid adoption of distributed energy resources (DER) such as solar PV, energy efficiency, energy storage, and generator sets offers a new set of challenges to aggregation and demand-side energy management. This white paper provides background on the new technologies, highlights major integration issues, and offers recommendations to DR customers looking to monetize their DER assets.

Virginia Beach, Virginia – Energy Manager’s determined pursuit of energy efficiency savings earned the city tens of thousands of dollars in rebates in just a few short years. (Download this case study as a PDF) THE CUSTOMER: THE CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH Located where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean, the City of Virginia … Continue reading Case Study: City of Virginia Beach

CPower’s on-going ERCOT webinar series is an invaluable tool for navigating Texas’s unique energy-only market, and maximize your participation in ERCOT’s lucrative demand response programs.Join CPower experts as they provide in-depth insights, proven strategies, and up-to-the-minute assessments— and show how you can ensure vital grid reliability while reaping the rewards of demand response participation.

As we discussed in our recent blog post about this summer’s potential “perfect Texas storm,” two significant factors projected for the ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) energy market could have a noticeable impact on demand response participants: Reduced supply and record peak demand. The resulting clash of supply and demand projections points to the … Continue reading Will Prices Rise With The Temperature In Texas This Summer?

In October 1991, Hurricane Grace formed near Bermuda and began moving north. At the same time, a massive low-pressure system moved south from Canada. They converged in the North Atlantic, creating a deadly, cataclysmic weather event that was dubbed “the perfect storm,” later immortalized in the film of that name starring George Clooney. No such … Continue reading Are You Ready For This Summer’s Perfect Texas Storm?

Big news came out of the PJM Interconnection’s Base Residual Auction (BRA), for the 2021/22 delivery year, two weeks ago. Contrary to what most industry experts and trade journalists had predicted, PJM’s Capacity Performance (CP) emergency demand response program did not fail. In fact, we saw offered and cleared Demand Response megawatts (MWs) increase drastically, … Continue reading Myths… Busted! PJM’s Capacity Performance Soars to New Heights– and Confirms Its Revenue Potential for You

The following is an excerpt from “Monetizing Energy Assets in the Commercial Real Estate Industry: A Complete Guide for Earning Revenue with demand-side energy management” by CPower: For the past several years, the economic and policy climate of North America has created an impetus for green and sustainable energy-efficient buildings. The commercial real estate (CRE) … Continue reading Green Buildings Attract Happy Tenants and Bring Green Earnings to the Commercial Real Estate Industry

Stand anywhere between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas from 48th to 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan and you’re bound to see hundreds of passersby gazing at the iconic sights of Rockefeller Center. If Gregg Fischer is one of them, however, he probably won’t be goggling at the usual tourist highlights—Radio City Music … Continue reading Tishman Speyer: Improving Tenant Experience through Demand-Side Energy Management

What is Demand-Side Energy Management? Learn the fundamentals with CPower’s Demand-Side Energy Management 101 video series.

A complete guide for earning revenue with demand-side energy management. This guide explains in full what these resources are on how a commercial real estate organization can monetize their existing energy assets with demand-side energy management.

Properly permitted, your emergency generation—EG—is both a reliability asset and a revenue generator. EG provides a great opportunity to earn revenue and save on energy costs through demand response (DR) and demand management programs.

Properly permitted, your emergency generation—EG—is both a reliability asset and a revenue generator. EG provides a great opportunity to earn revenue and save on energy costs through demand response (DR) and demand management programs. The path from emergency generation to revenue generation, though, may seem like a complex, confusing, and occasionally contradictory thicket of state … Continue reading Webinar: Leverage Your Generator Assets To Earn Revenue

Join CPower for this 40 minute webinar to learn all about the PECO Demand Response Program, including: – A brief history of PA Act 129 – Participation parameters and regulations – Best curtailment practices – Maximizing value by incorporating the program into your existing DR portfolio – How and when to enroll – Tracking your … Continue reading Watch: PECO Demand Response Webinar

California always seems to be at the center of innovation. When it comes to sustainable and renewable energy goals, it continues to deliver by leading the evolution of our nation’s energy mix away from finite sources that dominated the 20th century to the renewables that are poised to power our world today and in the … Continue reading Watch: The Evolution of the California Energy Market

A recap of the PJM 2017/18 Demand Response Summer season, and a preview of the Winter season just getting underway. With the season’s first snow on the ground and the official start of Winter just days away, it’s a good time to look back at how the PJM Interconnection performed over the summer, and how … Continue reading With The Season’s First Snow, PJM Says “Bring It On”

Virginia’s Opportunity University: successfully seized the opportunity to earn additional revenue for the school through demand response The Customer: Virginia State University Virginia State University (VSU), founded in 1882, is one of Virginia’s two land-grant institutions. It boasts a current student population of approximately 4,700. VSU’s 231-acre campus includes 11 residence halls, 18 academic buildings … Continue reading Case Study: Virginia State University

2.5 MW of monthly demand response commitment gives the Desert Water Agency energy savings and additional revenue to offset costs.   The Customer: Desert Water Agency, Palm Springs, California The Desert Water Agency (DWA) is a not for profit government agency providing water to the desert resort community of Palm Springs, in the Coachella Valley, as … Continue reading Case Study: Desert Water Agency

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and independent market analysts agree on at least one thing: there will be about 4,200 MW less fossil fuel capacity in the Lone Star State in 2018, a decrease that can be attributed to the approved retiring of three coal-fired generation plants–Monticello, Sandow, and Big Brown. Exactly how … Continue reading ERCOT’s Capacity Reserve is Dropping. Here’s What Your Business Should Know.

For most of the last two decades, demand response in California has been largely procured and operated by the state’s electric utilities. That trend is changing. Demand response in California is currently experiencing significant changes as regulators implement measures to expand the state’s pool of energy resources and assimilate these resources with the California Independent … Continue reading How to Maximize Demand Response Earnings with California’s DRAM Program

The Evolution Of The California Energy Market. California always seems to be at the center of innovation.  When it comes to sustainable and renewable energy goals, it continues to deliver by leading the evolution of our nation’s energy mix away from finite sources that dominated the 20th century to the renewables that are poised to … Continue reading White Paper: The Evolution of the California Energy Market

PJM Capacity Performance Is Here. Don't Believe The Myths. As we’re all aware by now, this past May PJM ushered in a new era for Demand Response (DR) with the Delivery Year (DY) 2020/21 Base Residual Auction (BRA). This marked the first auction offering 100% Capacity Performance (CP). The legacy summer DR programs of the … Continue reading White Paper: PJM Capacity Performance Is Here. Don’t Believe The Myths

Energy efficiency projects are well-known for their long-term cost savings and permanent energy load reduction. In the PJM Interconnection, they can also generate unexpected but substantial revenue streams when offered on PJM’s forward capacity market as a capacity resource. Proper measurement and verification, though, is the key. How does energy efficiency help regional transmission organizations … Continue reading Forward Capacity: New Revenue Source for Energy Efficiency Projects

The Virginia Beach City Public School System is on a mission. At the heart of that mission lies a commitment to education, which you’d expect from the largest school division in southeastern Virginia. What you might not expect is how money earned from participating in demand response programs is helping fund the VBCPS’ drive toward … Continue reading Demand response contributes more than just sustainability to K-12 public school system

A changing weather landscape may bring early summer heat. Although the recent La Nina season is officially over, we are experiencing a Mother Nature hangover as the 2017 Spring season has seen above normal temperatures.  As we transition from La Nina to El Nino, we should expect the hotter than normal temperatures to continue through … Continue reading What to expect in the upcoming PJM 2017/18 Demand Response season as well as a 2020/21 BRA preview.

Many customers as well as my colleagues at CPower often ask me about the benefits of installing reliable metering equipment to access energy data in near real time. I typically respond with a handful of advantages (some listed below), but even before going there I find it useful to explain the full context about why … Continue reading Understanding kW vs kWh (and Meter Data) to Lower Your Utility Bills

Is your organization one of the thousands of commercial/industrial energy customers that use back-up generators (BUGs)?  Are they used as emergency generators (a.k.a., EGs or gensets) in demand response (DR) programs? If so, 2016 may have felt like an episode of the “Survivor” reality show, except instead of the usual cast of GenX characters and … Continue reading Surviving New EPA Rules and the Emergency Generator Regulatory Maze

If you’re a mid- to large-sized energy user in New York, you’ve likely come across a veritable alphabet soup of acronyms: REV, CES, DR, DER…the list goes on. Many of you who run commercial and industrial (C&I) businesses know that you can actively leverage Demand Response (DR) programs and earn revenue by curtailing load when … Continue reading Managing Rising Costs Amidst the Alphabet Soup of NY Energy Initiatives

In the New England electric power market, sharply rising capacity costs and energy volatility in the New England power market will increase your electricity costs despite relatively low fuel prices and flat usage trends. This white paper explores the underlying reasons, and goes on to explain specific actions commercial and industrial customers can take to … Continue reading White Paper: The New England Electric Power Market

In this white paper, CPower’s Mike Hourihan aims to explain how recent events have played a role in shaping both the New York Energy Market’s current state and its evolution. He’ll also attempt to predict what might be in store for the market and how he believes New York businesses can position themselves to better … Continue reading White Paper: The Evolving New York Energy Market

Energy policy development is complicated.   Recall that the electric industry has been regulated for more than 100 years and it remains highly regulated today, even with competitive markets.  Moreover, both the Federal government and States have roles to play in regulation.  Using examples, this article focuses on federal jurisdiction over “wholesale” electricity that flows across … Continue reading Energy Policy 101: How the Movement of Electrons is Regulated

The 2016 PJM summer compliance season which runs from June through September has come to an end without a PJM-initiated emergency demand response (DR) event.  The first six months of the year were already one of the warmest on record. So, for many of us sweating it out across the northeast, it was no surprise … Continue reading Hot Summer Ends Without Emergency Demand Response Events in PJM

You’re a facilities manager in the public school system. Your district of twelve schools participates in demand response programs annually. Each year, you alternate the six schools that hold summer classes, which presents you with a unique opportunity to earn money through demand response. What do you do? 1) You register the six schools that … Continue reading Choose Your Own Curtailment Adventure: “School’s in Session”

What can demand response participants expect in New York this summer? Let’s take a look at a few factors. NYISO reports adequate summer supply, though concerns loom in Western New York… On May 19, 2016, NYISO issued its ritual summer press release stating, “Electric supplies in New York are expected to be adequate to meet … Continue reading NYISO is Ready for Summer Demand. DR Customers Should be Ready, too.

You’re a facilities manager at a city hospital in the PJM market, who’s always looking to offset costs by streamlining how you use energy. You have a basic understanding of how PJM calculates baselines so you decide to take advantage of PJM’s Economic Demand Response (DR) program, which pays businesses to curtail their loads when … Continue reading Choose Your Own Curtailment Adventure: “A Hospital’s Dilemma”

In 1992, I co-authored a chapter for the second edition of the Energy Management Handbook titled “Energy Management Control Systems.” In it I described, among other ideas and practices, the importance of software to facilitate the ongoing success of an efficient energy management control system (EMCS). We’ve seen a host of innovation in the energy … Continue reading Buildings Evolve. Your Building Management System Should, too.

ERCOT is ready to meet summer demand. On May 3, 2016, ERCOT released seasonal and 10-year outlooks that anticipate adequate generation capacity for upcoming electricity demands in Texas. According to the ERCOT’s Director of System Planning, Warren Lasher, the ISO expects to have ample generation to serve its customer’s needs this summer. “However,” according to … Continue reading What ERCOT’s Seasonal Demand Predictions Mean for Demand Response in Texas this Summer

A smart friend of mine once explained capacity charges with an analogy I’ve always thought was pretty cool. Here’s my version: Consider the parking lot of a large shopping mall. The mall has to have enough parking to satisfy the influx of shoppers on the busiest days of the year: Black Friday, the day after … Continue reading What Capacity Markets and Shopping Malls have in common

El Nino, La Nina, and Capacity Performance could have an impact on demand response in PJM this summer. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why. PJM is prepared to meet summer demand. Weather conditions are forecast to be mild, but don’t rule out emergency events. In a May press release, PJM stated the … Continue reading How Weather and Capacity Performance will Affect Demand Response in PJM this Summer

Demand response participants will play an essential role in keeping Southern California’s energy grid stable this summer. Here are a few reasons why and a few insights on how DR customers can position themselves for a successful season. The leak at Aliso Canyon has consequences for energy supply in California. In October 2015, Aliso Canyon— … Continue reading What the Worst Gas Leak in US History Means for Demand Response in California this Summer

Scotland Yard’s ace sleuth may not have intuitively known the finer points of a fixed price, index, or hybrid energy supply contract. He likely didn’t have the foresight to know which energy efficiency project will produce the best return on his investment. And, given that his heyday was about a century before the creation of … Continue reading Why Sherlock Holmes Would Have Been a Great Energy Manager