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Comverge, EnerNOC Get California Approval for DR Contracts By SGN Staff Sep 2, 2009 - 11:17:05 AM
Summary: Comverge, known for its demand-response technology products, has announced receiving regulatory approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for a 4-year contract with Southern California Edison (SCE). The contract was previously announced in June. As part of the contract, Comverge will build, operate, and maintain a 40-megawatt Virtual Peaking Capacity (VPC) demand-response system.
But Comverge isn’t SCE’s only DR customer. Just a few days earlier, CPUC approved another DR contract between SCE and EnerNOC. EnerNOC, whose contract is effective through 2012, will provide SCE with 110 megawatts of demand response capacity.
Quick Take: Until now, the battle in the DR space has been to scale up the system and to recruit customers. Going forward, we'll see the leading providers adding more and more applications on top of their basic curtailment service. Comverge rival EnerNOC is already pitching energy efficiency, carbon tracking, and other new applications. And Comverge itself re-architected its platform last year to make it easier for itself (and someday maybe for others) to build new services. Will one of the DR majors turn into a full-scale “platform” for distributed resources? Or will GridPoint snatch that prize? (Hint: The correct answer may be “none of the above” if IBM has its way.)
More information: SCE is the largest electrical utility in California, serving 285,000 commercial and industrial customers in a serve area covering 50,000 square miles of central and Southern California. The combined DR services of EnerNOC and SCE will help the giant utility maintain service in periods of high demand.
"We anticipate that this contract will be a valuable part of our demand response portfolio and reflects our commitment to meeting our system needs in a clean, reliable, and cost-effective manner," said Lawrence M. Oliva, Director of Tariff Programs & Services at Southern California Edison in a Comverge press release. "In addition, demand response enables our customers to participate more actively in energy markets and earn money for their willingness to curtail at times of peak demand, which helps improve overall satisfaction."
Comverge is promising a cost effective and environmentally responsible solution.
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