ORIGINAL REPORTING: Preparing For DER Aggregation In California

What to expect from California utilities' new aggregated demand response offerings; Under a new auction, the IOUs to meet grid demand with traditional DR, batteries, and EVs

Herman K. Trabish, January 26, 2016 (Utility Dive)

Editor’s note: Since this piece was reported, states all over the country have started planning for aggregated distributed energy resources.

California’s investor-owned utilities, San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), have picked the private sector players whose aggregated resources they will use in the day-ahead electricity market of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the state’s grid operator. Their distributed energy resources (DER) will be used in the day-ahead electricity market of theCalifornia Independent System Operator (CAISO), the state’s grid operator.The IOUs will use the selected 40 MW of DER to provide demand response (DR) to meet a small portion of their obligations to the grid operator. SCE accepted bids for more than 20 MW, PG&E took 17.7 MW, and SDG&E, with a smaller customer base, took just under 3 MW.

PG&E - click to enlarge

The winning private sector participants fall into four basic categories. The biggest players, like Johnson Controls/EnergyConnect, IPKeys Power Partners, and EnerNOC, are traditional DR providers, who will use their customers’ commitments to reduce the CA ISO load. A new provider on the scene was eMotorWorks, which makes electric vehicle (EV) chargers and charger components. Its smart charging technology will recruit EV batteries’ storage to help grid operators shift loads. More distributed DR will come from residential and small business energy management service companies like OhmConnect, Chai Energy, and EnergyHub. They reward customers with smart thermostats for reducing their distributed heating and cooling and other electricity loads. The novel category in California's DR program was won by companies like Green Charge Networks and Stem that aggregate behind-the-meter battery energy storage at the commercial-industrial and residential levels… click here for more

SCE - click to enlarge

SDG&E - click to enlarge

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