Utility programs succeed in cooling off summertime demand for electricity
Heat waves like the one this summer used to mean one thing: a record for how much electricity utilities had to provide on the hottest days. But this year, Kansas City Power & Light Co. fell well short of its record for “peak demand” for electricity. Despite the searing heat, that meant no threats of blackouts or brownouts and no failures for overtaxed equipment.
How did that happen?
The sour economy played a part, curbing overall electricity demand, and more-efficient air conditioners helped to reduce power use, but KCP&L also gives a big part of the credit to its programs that are specifically designed to curb peak demand.
Under one of those programs, called Energy Optimizer, a record number of residential customers volunteered to automatically reduce their air-conditioning use for a few hours on some of the hottest days. With a little help from commercial customers, that was enough for KCP&L to avoid setting a record for peak usage of electricity.
“It’s without question there have been a couple or three days this summer we would have broken our record without this,” said Chuck Caisley, a spokesman for the utility.
When demand rises, utilities fire up auxiliary generating plants, which typically use natural gas so they can be started quickly. If that’s not enough, utilities must buy electricity on the wholesale market, which is costly on hot days.
But this summer, KCP&L had enough capacity to handle even its highest demand, and the only times it bought power were when that was cheaper than generating its own.
A longtime goal
For years, utilities have sought to reduce peak demand, mainly through commercial customers, which are paid by the utilities if they agree to cut their use on the worst days.
Residential customers are getting more attention now, and a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission report released last year focused on their potential.
The report estimated that peak demand could be reduced up to 20 percent nationwide by the end of the decade — roughly the electricity produced by 2,000 natural-gas-fired power plants.
The report for the first time also looked at the potential for reducing peak demand in each state, and it concluded that some of the biggest gains could come from homes with central air conditioning.
That was particularly true for Missouri and Kansas because they have a lot of central air conditioning, in part because of their combination of heat and humidity.
The report said 88 percent of Missouri’s electric utility customers have central air, the second highest in the country, trailing only Florida, which had 91 percent. Kansas isn’t far behind at 84 percent, well above the national average.
“I think peak-demand reduction is an issue for utilities nationwide,” said Omar Siddiqui, a senior project manager for the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit group that studies issues that affect electric utilities.
Not always easy
But reducing residential demand is being approached cautiously, in part based on experience.
AmerenUE, which is based in St. Louis and serves several regions in Missouri, was disappointed by a pilot program a few years ago. It gave 300 employees a credit on their electric bills if they adjusted their home thermostats when AmerenUE asked them to on hot days. The problem, said Mike Cleary, a spokesman for AmerenUE who took part in the program, was that participants often weren’t home when they needed to adjust their thermostats.
“Frankly, I never did it,” Cleary said. “I was never home to do it.”
AmerenUE still has peak-demand programs for commercial customers, but the pilot program for residential customers was dropped. The utility won’t rule out another residential program in the future, but for now it is focusing on energy-efficiency programs to reduce the overall load.
One program offers rebates to customers who buy energy-efficient air conditioners. The goal is to save enough electricity by 2025 to eliminate the need for a coal-fired power plant.
Empire District Electric in Joplin, Mo., is taking a similar approach to reduce its overall load, which also should have some effect on peak demand. Its programs include weatherizing and insulating homes, offering customers rebates for buying energy-efficient air conditioners and energy audits to help customers cut energy use.
“We’re confident it’s having some impact,” said Amy Bass, a spokeswoman for Empire District Electric.
Some have doubts
Some advocates of energy efficiency are skeptical of peak-demand programs in general, saying the emphasis is misplaced.
Martin Kushler, the director of utility programs for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, said he is “not a big fan” of peak-demand programs, which he describes as “shifting the timing of an inefficient load.”
Kushler said energy-efficiency programs to reduce overall loads make more sense, especially in places like Missouri and Kansas that have plenty of room for improvement.
Particularly worrisome to Kushler are plans for a “smart grid” and “smart meters,” which could help manage energy use and curb peak demand but would cost billions of dollars. “It’s an interesting area, but it needs more research,” he said.
Some utilities now pursuing peak-demand programs believe they have the right approach, experimenting in measured ways with many things while also pursuing overall energy efficiency. For example, KCP&L and Westar Energy Inc., the biggest electric utility in Kansas, have pilot projects for smart meters but don’t intend to expand the programs until the utilities see how they work.
Meanwhile, the utilities already have in place programs that ask residential and small-business customers to volunteer to reduce peak demand.
Making it work
Westar’s program, called WattSaver, is in its first summer. Modeled after KCP&L’s Energy Optimizer, Westar installs a free “smart” thermostat for each customer who agrees to participate. The customer, in person or online, can program the thermostat to save money and energy, usually by cutting back on heating or cooling when people are sleeping or no one is home.
In return, the customer allows the utility to remotely cycle the air conditioning on and off for a few hours on peak days when the utility wants to reduce demand. Customers can opt out once a month.
Customer reaction was a concern, but it turned out not to be an issue, said Paula Carvell, a Westar manager for energy efficiency. WattSaver’s enrollment is 11,000 customers, and Westar is confident it eventually will reach 90,000.
“We got quite a bit of feedback from our customers; they love it,” Carvell said, adding that only a handful of customers had dropped out of the program.
KCP&L’s Energy Optimizer has had longer to gain traction. Conceived about five years ago, it has become more popular in the last two years and now has 47,000 customers. The utility thinks it can triple that number. This summer the program triggered the air-conditioner cycling 11 times. That reduced peak demand by 42 megawatts — about half the capacity of a gas-fired booster plant — a savings that will grow as more customers are added. Trying new approaches
In October, KCP&L will branch out and start installing 14,000 smart meters in midtown Kansas City, including the city’s Green Impact Zone, a 150-square-block area designated for such conservation and alternative energy pilot projects.
The meters, much like those in the peak-demand programs, will give customers more control. But they also will give them and the utility lots of additional information and options. Some customers, for example, will be told instantly how much energy they’re using. If the amount seems too high, will they decide to conserve on their own? Or will they need a financial incentive?
The utility is also planning to ask for regulatory approval for variable pricing — offering different prices at different times. The smart meters could tell customers, for example, that electricity prices were higher on a summer afternoon when air-conditioners were running, so customers could save money by shifting tasks such as washing clothes to the morning or evening. Customers with the smart meters would not have to participate in the variable pricing but could opt in.
“Our assumption is that adoption will be slow,” said Jason Jones, a demand-response manager for KCP&L.
The Green Impact Zone in Kansas City’s urban core will test another way to reduce peak demand. In the next few years, a huge battery will be installed that will be charged by solar collectors or wind turbines or by traditional power plants at night when demand is lower. The battery’s power will then be released when demand is high.
“Think of a Duracell battery, except this will be the size of a semitruck,” said Caisley, the KCP&L spokesman. ONE HOT SUMMER
One measure of weather and how it affects utilities is “cooling-degree days” and “heating-degree days,” based on how often, and by how much, temperatures vary from 65 degrees. Through Aug. 21, Kansas City had 1,399 heating-degree days this year. That is a full 50 percent higher than last year, when summer was mild, and 32 percent above average. Source: National Weather Service
To reach Steve Everly, call 816-234-4455 or send e-mail to severly@kcstar.com.
Read more: https://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/30/2188883/utility-programs-succeed-in-cooling.html#ixzz0yUC2ngt2
-Steve Everly
