Keywords: cleantech, demand response, electricity, energy management, grid operator, utility
The electric power industry in North America faces enormous challenges to keep pace with the increasing demand for electricity. According to the international Energy Agency, the United States and Canada need to add 758,000 MW of additional capacity at a cost of $1.6 trillion between 2003 and 2030 to meet projected demand. As electric power confronts these challenges, demand response has emerged as an important solution to help address this imbalance in electric supply and demand. Demand response solutions offer the ability to remotely manage and reduce electricity consumption – a solution which is not only a more environmentally-friendly alternative to building traditional power generation for times of peak demand, but also has the potential to offset $5.9 billion/year in projected infrastructure expenditures in the U.S. and Canada alone. By working together, electrical utilities, grid operators and their commercial customers can predictably and intelligently supply and share hundreds of megawatts to meet sometimes wildly varying energy demands, providing cleantech through existing resources. This presentation will explore how electrical grid operators and utilities can meet peak demands through watchful energy management and demand response systems, and review ways businesses can temporarily reduce energy consumption without noticeably sacrificing ongoing operations and customer service.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: Technical Proceedings of the 2008 Clean Technology Conference and Trade Show
Published: June 1, 2008
Pages: 226 - 229
Industry sector: Energy & Sustainability
Topic: Energy Storage
ISBN: 1-4200-8502-0