Demand response for utilities
Commercial and industrial demand response programs provide a sustainable, cost-effective solution for utilities to manage peak demand and maintain grid reliability through flexible and dynamic energy use.
Meet Today’s Energy Challenges
Demand response delivers demand-side flexibility when and where it matters most
Utilities are always looking for ways to better serve their customers with more flexible, reliable and cost-effective approaches to meet demand. But today’s market dynamics – unprecedented demand growth, rising power plant construction costs, the need for transmission and distribution upgrades, growing penetration of renewables, new environmental regulations, and market price volatility – make resource planning with traditional supply-side resources more difficult, expensive, and uncertain than ever.
To address these challenges, many utilities are offering their commercial and industrial (C&I) customers an opportunity to participate in demand response – a reliable, cost-effective approach to supporting grid reliability that pays participants to be flexible with their energy usage. Demand response is rapidly evolving from an “emergency resource” to a versatile, real-time grid management tool for meeting peak demand without relying on costly peaking power plants or new investments in new steel-in-the-ground generation assets.
How It Works
The flexible grid: rethinking how we power the future
Historically, the go-to strategy to ensure grid balancing has been to increase supply when demand rises, which meant building more new power plants and firing up peaking power plants. Demand response introduces a powerful alternative: instead of only focusing on boosting supply, why not create flexibility on the demand side?
Electricity use isn’t static – C&I energy users now have more control and insight into when and how they use energy, and many loads can be shifted without sacrificing comfort or productivity. By tapping into that flexibility, utilities can reduce the need for costly new infrastructure. Demand response is a smarter, more sustainable solution – often cheaper and faster to build than new generation, and inherently cleaner. After all, the cheapest and cleanest megawatt is the one that’s never produced or used.
What Enel North America Provides
Ensuring the success of your demand response program
Demand response is what we do
Enel is the global leader in C&I demand response. Utilities and grid operators turn to us for a diverse range of capacity, economic, and ancillary service demand response resources, using our advanced software and technology platform as well as our proven approaches to program design and C&I customer engagement.
In North America, dozens of utilities have partnered with Enel to implement cost-effective demand response programs for nearly two decades. Enel understands that each utility faces unique challenges. That’s why utilities engage us to design and deploy demand response solutions that are custom-tailored to meet their specific needs and objectives.
A resource you can count on
Utility control rooms count on resources showing up when dispatched. With Enel’s patented software and technology platform, you can view the performance of demand response assets in real time, so there’s no guesswork. Our utility partners benefit from Enel’s continued investment in technology and nearly two decades of delivering firm, C&I demand response resources, which gives utilities reliability without the expense of building new infrastructure.
Effective program design and deployment
Designing and implementing a successful C&I demand response program that maximizes customer participation and optimizes resource performance requires effectively balancing a number of elements related to resource reliability, customer satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness. Enel can help you maximize the value of your demand response program by partnering with you to define the ideal approach to deployment that takes into consideration both your needs and those of your customers.
Once your needs are defined, we leverage our years of experience implementing a wide range of demand response programs to build a portfolio of demand response resources that meets your needs and objectives. Our capabilities span the demand response customer lifecycle, and include activities such as:
- Lead generation and marketing
- Customer recruitment and contracting
- Site enablement, audits, and curtailment plans
- Dispatch management notifications and performance management
- Performance measurement and verification (M&V)
- Portfolio management, settlement, and customer payments
Throughout our engagements, our program managers hold regular progress meetings with your team to ensure successful program execution.
Engage your C&I customers in demand response
A successfully executed demand response program can help enhance your customers’ satisfaction. In fact, Enel’s C&I customer satisfaction surveys consistently find that demand response helps maintain and improve customers’ overall opinion of their utility.
We have engaged C&I customers like yours in a range of demand response programs worldwide. With deep experience focused exclusively on the non-residential market, Enel has successfully enabled thousands of sites for active program participation across a wide range of industries. Utilities that engage us to manage their demand response portfolios consistently achieve reliable resource performance.
- Your brand front and center: We understand your customers are just that – YOUR customers. You can white-label our software and all marketing initiatives with your brand identity to support customer relationship and satisfaction objectives.
- Tailored, proven strategies: The diverse and often complex load profiles across C&I segments can make it difficult to design and execute a program with appeal to a broad cross-section of customers. That’s where Enel’s experience making demand response work for thousands of C&I sites can help. Engagement strategies for a Fortune 500 manufacturer, for example, differ from strategies to engage a grocery store chain or farm. Our experience working with a range of industries – from hospitals and universities to manufacturers and retailers – enables us to build demand response programs that can meet your program’s unique needs and effectively engage your customers.
- Flexible, customer-friendly demand response: The capabilities of specific C&I customers will not often provide an exact match to a utility’s resource needs whether because the customer has operational constraints relative to dispatch duration, frequency, or other variables. Our expertise in managing aggregated demand response portfolios accommodates for customer diversity while, at the end of the day, delivering your resource needs.
Because data quality matters
Our metering and control hardware serves as a secure communications gateway that facilitates data transfer, automated load control, and continuous real-time monitoring of each site in your program portfolio.
Easily connected to your customers’ existing electrical meters, the Enel X Site Server (ESS) is equipped to read and record interval data, typically through KYZ pulse outputs. The ESS communicates this data back to our Network Operations Center using secure protocols via either wired or wireless communications. All ESS interaction with the utility meter is one-way, read-only communication, so there is no risk of interference with utility meter readings or power quality. Enel also offers specialized hardware options for irrigation load applications.
Dispatch management control center
Similar to a utility control center, Enel’s Network Operations Center (NOC) continuously monitors each site’s connectivity and energy consumption. During a demand response dispatch, the NOC tracks energy reductions at each site and gives you real-time visibility into aggregated load reduction data as the event unfolds. Throughout the event, patented software tools continuously evaluate performance, automatically identifying underperformers and initiating remediation protocols.
Software-enabled program visibility
You and your customers gain visibility into demand response event performance. Built on a secure and scalable web services-based architecture, our software analyzes and presents real-time data – typically in one-minute or five-minute intervals – captured by Enel’s Site Server devices.
You can use our secure, cloud-based software to schedule, monitor, and analyze your demand response resource volume. With our flexible event scheduling options, you can manage your C&I program for optimal performance while avoiding customer fatigue. You can also use Enel’s software to access real-time interval data for participating customers during non-dispatch periods to support load research and planning activities.
Demand response program participants also benefit from access to their real-time energy data. By logging in to view performance, participants can ensure they are achieving their energy reduction targets and track their demand response payments.
The right solution for you and your customers
Each utility faces unique challenges in implementing and managing its C&I demand response program. Whether you are looking for an end-to-end program deployment solution with a firm resource guarantee, or support on specific aspects of your in-house demand response program to improve performance, customer satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness, our flexible managed services for demand response provide solutions to match your specific needs.
Enel has partnered with leading utilities and grid operators
Demand response should be simple, rewarding, and low risk. When you partner with Enel, you're not just choosing an aggregator to manage your demand response program – you’re gaining a trusted partner with more than two decades of experience and the financial strength of a global energy leader. This foundation enables us to deliver long-term value and stability to your customers.
Enel is a recognized demand response leader in North America, partnering with more than 30 grid operators and utilities across 9 ISOs. Eleven of these relationships are exclusive bilateral agreements, where the utility has selected Enel as the sole provider to manage its demand response program. Today, we manage over 4.8 GW of capacity across more than 10,000 sites in the U.S. and Canada, with C&I participants enrolled in more than 80 demand response programs across 31 states and 2 provinces. Since 2011, we've delivered nearly $2 billion in payments to customers participating in these programs – helping them turn flexibility into a competitive advantage while enabling a more flexible and dynamic electric grid.
What Enel North America Provides
Ensuring the success of your demand response program
Enel is the global leader in C&I demand response. Utilities and grid operators turn to us for a diverse range of capacity, economic, and ancillary service demand response resources, using our advanced software and technology platform as well as our proven approaches to program design and C&I customer engagement.
In North America, dozens of utilities have partnered with Enel to implement cost-effective demand response programs for nearly two decades. Enel understands that each utility faces unique challenges. That’s why utilities engage us to design and deploy demand response solutions that are custom-tailored to meet their specific needs and objectives.
Utility control rooms count on resources showing up when dispatched. With Enel’s patented software and technology platform, you can view the performance of demand response assets in real time, so there’s no guesswork. Our utility partners benefit from Enel’s continued investment in technology and nearly two decades of delivering firm, C&I demand response resources, which gives utilities reliability without the expense of building new infrastructure.
Designing and implementing a successful C&I demand response program that maximizes customer participation and optimizes resource performance requires effectively balancing a number of elements related to resource reliability, customer satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness. Enel can help you maximize the value of your demand response program by partnering with you to define the ideal approach to deployment that takes into consideration both your needs and those of your customers.
Once your needs are defined, we leverage our years of experience implementing a wide range of demand response programs to build a portfolio of demand response resources that meets your needs and objectives. Our capabilities span the demand response customer lifecycle, and include activities such as:
- Lead generation and marketing
- Customer recruitment and contracting
- Site enablement, audits, and curtailment plans
- Dispatch management notifications and performance management
- Performance measurement and verification (M&V)
- Portfolio management, settlement, and customer payments
Throughout our engagements, our program managers hold regular progress meetings with your team to ensure successful program execution.
A successfully executed demand response program can help enhance your customers’ satisfaction. In fact, Enel’s C&I customer satisfaction surveys consistently find that demand response helps maintain and improve customers’ overall opinion of their utility.
We have engaged C&I customers like yours in a range of demand response programs worldwide. With deep experience focused exclusively on the non-residential market, Enel has successfully enabled thousands of sites for active program participation across a wide range of industries. Utilities that engage us to manage their demand response portfolios consistently achieve reliable resource performance.
- Your brand front and center: We understand your customers are just that – YOUR customers. You can white-label our software and all marketing initiatives with your brand identity to support customer relationship and satisfaction objectives.
- Tailored, proven strategies: The diverse and often complex load profiles across C&I segments can make it difficult to design and execute a program with appeal to a broad cross-section of customers. That’s where Enel’s experience making demand response work for thousands of C&I sites can help. Engagement strategies for a Fortune 500 manufacturer, for example, differ from strategies to engage a grocery store chain or farm. Our experience working with a range of industries – from hospitals and universities to manufacturers and retailers – enables us to build demand response programs that can meet your program’s unique needs and effectively engage your customers.
- Flexible, customer-friendly demand response: The capabilities of specific C&I customers will not often provide an exact match to a utility’s resource needs whether because the customer has operational constraints relative to dispatch duration, frequency, or other variables. Our expertise in managing aggregated demand response portfolios accommodates for customer diversity while, at the end of the day, delivering your resource needs.
Our metering and control hardware serves as a secure communications gateway that facilitates data transfer, automated load control, and continuous real-time monitoring of each site in your program portfolio.
Easily connected to your customers’ existing electrical meters, the Enel X Site Server (ESS) is equipped to read and record interval data, typically through KYZ pulse outputs. The ESS communicates this data back to our Network Operations Center using secure protocols via either wired or wireless communications. All ESS interaction with the utility meter is one-way, read-only communication, so there is no risk of interference with utility meter readings or power quality. Enel also offers specialized hardware options for irrigation load applications.
Similar to a utility control center, Enel’s Network Operations Center (NOC) continuously monitors each site’s connectivity and energy consumption. During a demand response dispatch, the NOC tracks energy reductions at each site and gives you real-time visibility into aggregated load reduction data as the event unfolds. Throughout the event, patented software tools continuously evaluate performance, automatically identifying underperformers and initiating remediation protocols.
You and your customers gain visibility into demand response event performance. Built on a secure and scalable web services-based architecture, our software analyzes and presents real-time data – typically in one-minute or five-minute intervals – captured by Enel’s Site Server devices.
You can use our secure, cloud-based software to schedule, monitor, and analyze your demand response resource volume. With our flexible event scheduling options, you can manage your C&I program for optimal performance while avoiding customer fatigue. You can also use Enel’s software to access real-time interval data for participating customers during non-dispatch periods to support load research and planning activities.
Demand response program participants also benefit from access to their real-time energy data. By logging in to view performance, participants can ensure they are achieving their energy reduction targets and track their demand response payments.
Each utility faces unique challenges in implementing and managing its C&I demand response program. Whether you are looking for an end-to-end program deployment solution with a firm resource guarantee, or support on specific aspects of your in-house demand response program to improve performance, customer satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness, our flexible managed services for demand response provide solutions to match your specific needs.
Demand response should be simple, rewarding, and low risk. When you partner with Enel, you're not just choosing an aggregator to manage your demand response program – you’re gaining a trusted partner with more than two decades of experience and the financial strength of a global energy leader. This foundation enables us to deliver long-term value and stability to your customers.
Enel is a recognized demand response leader in North America, partnering with more than 30 grid operators and utilities across 9 ISOs. Eleven of these relationships are exclusive bilateral agreements, where the utility has selected Enel as the sole provider to manage its demand response program. Today, we manage over 4.8 GW of capacity across more than 10,000 sites in the U.S. and Canada, with C&I participants enrolled in more than 80 demand response programs across 31 states and 2 provinces. Since 2011, we've delivered nearly $2 billion in payments to customers participating in these programs – helping them turn flexibility into a competitive advantage while enabling a more flexible and dynamic electric grid.
