Site Controls Helps Sustain the Electricity Grid During Heat Waves

Site Controls - the nation’s leading provider of enterprise-wide energy management, facilities intelligence and smart grid solutions, today announced that it is helping chain operators protect the power grid during this summer’s heat waves by managing utility-sponsored electricity curtailment programs across the country. Heat waves cause large spikes in electricity demand, placing the grid at risk of rolling blackouts or even widespread power outages. Site Controls’ Intelligent Load Management (ILM) solution, currently on-line at thousands of retailers, restaurants and branch banks across the country, enables chains to play a significant role in curtailing usage during these critical periods, while generating cash payments from utilities for their participation.

In the July 2010 heat wave in the US Northeast, for example, hundreds of chain locations participated in load reduction programs administered by electric utilities and ISOs (Independent System Operators). Site Controls Intelligent Load Management next generation Smart Grid technology considered building occupancy, air conditioning equipment conditions and environmental factors to maximize energy curtailment while ensuring customer comfort standards were maintained throughout multiple events. The entire ILM process – from initiating a demand-response event to dynamically adjusting set-points and in-store lighting – was completely automated based on customer-defined parameters and specific in-store conditions. Aggregate load was reduced by approximately 30 percent, resulting in several megawatts of capacity delivered to the grid, helping avert the risk of power outages. With highly granular, non-invasive load reduction measures available on demand, the ILM technology can automatically support hundreds of events nationwide each year, with events lasting from just a few minutes to more than six hours in duration.

With nearly 900,000 locations, retail chains are among the largest commercial consumers of electrical power in the U.S. Because of this high volume and the distribution on the electric grid, the retail segment of electric utility consumers presents a significant opportunity to dynamically balance the grid through Intelligent Load Management.

"By enabling retailers to participate in electricity load reduction programs such as Demand Response, we are helping them act in a socially responsible manner while generating meaningful revenues at the same time," said Colin Bester, chief technology officer for Site Controls. "But more importantly, we do this in a way that doesn’t negatively affect the cash register – since our ILM technology is completely automated and leverages preconfigured business rules, Demand Response events do not disrupt store operations or jeopardize customer comfort."