We heard a lot at March 26th's PUC open house about requests to Idaho Power for increased electricity demand, and we saw charts showing how only by adding the B2H line would we barely be able to make our home air conditioners function during the peak loads of hot Treasure Valley summers.
Strangely absent was any mention of increasing Idaho Power's capacity by 65 MW as a result of industrial and commercial customers using "demand response" management technology supplied by the energy solution company EnerNOC.
Mark Stokes mentioned EnerNOC's contract in his March 19th advisory committee meeting in Boise, but Mark and Kip Sikes somehow forgot to add this to their Powerpoint presentations in Ontario and Baker City to Oregon's Public Utilities Commission.
Since 65 MW by 2013 addresses peak load demand (and SIP established the precipitously fallen need), at the very least there is no need for a fast track regional transmission line to provide power locally.
The presentation to Oregon's PUC was thus limited and skewed. Fortunately Roger Findley picked up on this and included the EnerNOC contract in his Powerpoint.
EnerNOC Signs 65 Megawatt Demand Response Contract with Idaho Power
http://www.enernoc.com/press/releases/release.php?press_id=121&keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=560&width=568
BOSTON, MA, March 4, 2009 – EnerNOC, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENOC), a leading developer and provider of clean and intelligent energy solutions, today announced that it has entered into a five-year contract with Idaho Power, a subsidiary of IDACORP, Inc., to provide up to 65 megawatts of demand response capacity in southern Idaho. Pending regulatory approval, EnerNOC will begin to deliver capacity under this contract this summer.
“Investing in this demand response initiative helps us meet our commitment to our customers to continue to provide responsible, reliable, fair-priced energy and continue to diversify our power portfolio. By choosing EnerNOC’s demand response application, which has been successfully deployed by many of our respected industry peers, we get the firm capacity we need to respond to peak load demands during our summer peak season,” said Warren Kline, Customer Service and Regional Operations Vice President of Idaho Power.
“This is Idaho Power’s first comprehensive demand response offering targeting commercial and industrial customers, and demonstrates that more and more utilities are embracing demand response as a necessary component of their resource portfolio,” said Tim Healy, Chairman and CEO of EnerNOC.
EnerNOC will enable and manage a network of commercial and industrial facilities throughout Idaho Power’s service area to reduce electricity demand during system peaks. Idaho Power experienced a new summer peak of 3,214 MW in June 2008. EnerNOC will install its technology, free of charge to the customer, at each participating facility and provide payments to participants for being “on call” during the summer months. In addition, each facility will get free basic access to EnerNOC’s PowerTrak® energy management software, which will enable them to identify additional cost-saving opportunities through better energy management. When a demand response event is called, EnerNOC will dispatch its network to reduce non-essential electricity usage and collect real-time data to verify that each facility is achieving its pre-determined energy reduction goals.
This contract is subject to the approval of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission.
EnerNOC provides demand response and energy efficiency solutions throughout North America in open markets such as New England, New York, PJM Interconnection, Texas, and California, as well as under bilateral agreements with utilities such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, Tampa Electric Company, Salt River Project, Public Service Company of New Mexico, and Xcel Energy.
