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FERC Schedules Nov. 19-20 Demand Response Technical Conference
By SGN Staff
Nov 3, 2009 - 3:41:26 PM

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has released its discussion draft report on possible components of its demand response national action plan and scheduled a technical conference to discuss it for Nov. 19-20 in Washington, D.C.

 

However, anyone interested in addressing the conference will need to move fast. Those interested in speaking must fill out an online form describing what they intend to address by Friday, Nov. 6.

 

Written comments on the draft and conference discussions must be submitted by Dec. 4, 2009.

 

FERC was mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to develop a demand response national action plan with three primary objectives. Those directives are:

·         Identification of requirements for technical assistance to states to allow them to maximize the amount of demand response resources that can be developed and deployed.

·         Design and identification of requirements for implementation of a national communications program that includes broadbased customer education and support.

·         Development or identification of analytical tools, information, model regulatory provisions, model contracts, and other support materials for use by customers, states, utilities and demand response providers.

Technical conferences on the discussion draft originally scheduled for October were postponed because of scheduling conflicts.

   Quick Take: There are already many reasons to believe that DR is entering a boom time. Now here's another -- DR may soon become, if not the law of the land, then at least the "guideline" of the land. We predict a flurry of announcements by companies (and even some utilities) eager to compete with early DR leaders EnerNOC, Comverge and CPower. The latest buzzword for next-generation DR, by the way: Virtual Power Plant.

   Conference notice (pdf)

   Discussion draft (pdf)


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