Users can configure customizable and automated triggers to offset energy use when wholesale electricity costs rise with the latest tool from Enersponse.
Fremont, CA: Electricity is frequently purchased based on a real-time or day-ahead pricing index by businesses. This gives them the lowest electricity prices on average throughout the year and protects them from paying the provider premium costs that come with a fixed price contract. Unfortunately, when the grid is stressed, as it often is during severely cold or hot weather, it opens the door to potentially volatile rate spikes. Price Response, a new automated tool from Enersponse, a leading distributed energy resource (DER) management provider, continuously monitors real-time and day-ahead energy rates and empowers customers to save money by throttling consumption when wholesale electricity costs rise above a customizable threshold.
“Price Response was created to answer the clearly expressed need of our customer base,” states James Muraca, chief technology officer at Enersponse. “The product is uniquely customizable and can suit each client or site’s exact curtailment specifications – from the number of events per hour to how long the energy reduction lasts, and more. It even has the capability to indicate different levels of severity based on fluctuating price triggers.”
Customers may select and choose curtailment parameters that match the demands of a specific location, which is a fundamental difference of Price Response. Other schemes have tight participation criteria that lock in participants for hours at a time or provide little to no notice before the energy reduction event. Price Response is accessed through a user-friendly customer log-in site that allows clients to easily customize and manage energy response based on their company's overall operational needs.
“A tangible example of how Price Response can save customers a ton of money is by looking at the wholesale electricity price volatility caused by Winter Storm Uni in Texas last February,” adds James Muraca. “Grid conditions were so strained from the harsh storm that businesses throughout the state were hit with unforeseen and very costly utility bills. With real-time monitoring and automated curtailment enabled through Price Response, customers have peace of mind knowing that even when an unexpected grid strain hits, they have a precautionary measure in place to protect them from excessive electricity charges.”
