2010 Commercial Peak Load Management Pilot SOP

Status

Applications can be immediately, and will be accepted on a rolling basis until TNMP has signed up the target 2,000 kW of curtailable load. Project applications will be evaluated on a first-come, first-served basis. This site will be the main source of additional information about the program.

Description

The TNMP Peak Load Management Pilot SOP invites commercial class customers (including governmental, non-profit, and institutional customers) receiving distribution-level service to provide on-call, voluntary curtailment of electric consumption during peak demand periods in return for incentive payments. TNMP is offering payments of $40/kW for the average demand reduction delivered by participating customers, who will receive notice of the planned event at least one hour before they must reduce load. Incentive payments are based on verified delivery of demand savings through TNMP analysis of billing data. Customers are not required to produce a specific level of curtailed load; however, customers will only receive payment for the amount of load curtailed.

Why Should I Participate?

The TNMP offers substantial incentives to program participants (at $40/kW, every 100 kW of load reduction you can achieve is worth $4,000), with little or no risk. Program participants decide how to reduce load in response to the hour-ahead call, so you maintain control over your facility at all times. There are no penalties associated with non-delivery, so you also assume no financial risks. If you do not deliver, you simply do not receive a payment you can’t receive if you do not participate!

The program runs from June 1 to October 30. During this period, customers should be prepared to shed load between the hours of 1 PM and 7 PM. Participants commit to delivering a maximum of 18 hours, spread across a maximum of five events. These five events include one annual scheduled event, typically to be called in early June, in which customers are asked to shed load for 1 to 2 hours to demonstrate they can deliver the load reduction. Over the rest of the summer, anywhere from zero to four additional load reduction events may be called – the maximum duration of any event will be 4 hours, and will never extend outside the 1 PM to 7 PM window.

Program Objectives

The main goals of the Load Management SOP are to reduce summer peak demand in the TNMP service territory in a cost-effective manner and to reach the demand savings goals established by the legislature and PUCT regulations. In addition, there are secondary program goals that are reflected in the SOP rules and procedures:

• Create a simple and streamlined program process to stimulate strong program participation from energy efficiency service providers.
• Minimize the burden of measurement and verification requirements for the SOP by implementation of a simple verification process by TNMP.
• Encourage market-based delivery of demand savings during peak demand periods.

Program Pricing

The following standard incentives rates are applied to the verified peak demand savings achieved through curtailments:

The scheduled event incentive is paid based on the kW demand reduction delivered during the scheduled test curtailment event in early June. The performance incentive is paid on the average of delivered kW demand reduction across all events (the scheduled event plus any additional curtailment events occurring between June 1 and September 30).

Participation

TNMP customers can participate in this program by either self-sponsoring or by working through a third party project sponsor. The term project sponsor refers simply to the entity that signs up to deliver a given amount of load reduction. A project sponsor may accomplish this by offering load at a single location or by combining multiple locations. However, an individual location (Project Site) should be capable of delivering 100 kW of load reduction.

Project Sponsors can participate in this project through a Five-Step Process described in detail in the Program Manual, which can be accessed by following the program manual link at the top of this page. The five steps are (1) Application, (2) Contracting, (3) Performance (4) Measurement and Verification, and (5) Payment of Incentives to the Project Sponsor.

For More Information

TNMP is administering this program through an online program tracking system, which can be found by following this link: http://ecurtail.com/tnmp/Login/Login.aspx.

The complete Program Manual provides detailed information. For answers to specific questions about your facility, contact Greg Landreth at 512-372-8778 x.117, or by email at gwlandreth@frontierassoc.com.