Demand response central

Demand response central

Demand response is what the electricity industry calls dialing down electricity consumption at homes or businesses during peak times. By "shedding load," utilities can avoid firing up expensive and polluting power plants.

Here is a photo of EnerNOC's network operations center in Boston, where they work with industrial and business clients on demand response. Based on a signal from the grid operator, EnerNOC makes changes at its customers' locations, such as dimming the lights in a supermarket or turning off a fan at a factory for a short time. Aggregating these events, which can last a few minutes, can save the utility a lot of money. In exchange, the customers are paid for participating in the energy-efficiency program.

For consumers, it might mean the utility turns down the gas heat on a drier or the thermostat. In a recent report, the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center recommended that consumers be given full control over demand response.