New World of Demand Response Coming to California in the Next Two Years

Monday, September 23, 2013

The attached Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR) from the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) will identify new rules, who gets to participate, and how DR will be split between utility programs and wholesale products. Click here to see it: http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M077/K118/77118350.pdf

Below are some interesting comments from the CPUC commissioners when the DR OIR was approved September 19 about automation and the link between Energy Efficiency and Demand Response:

Peevey - DR has the potential to meet the needs of the grid. Now that it is in its adolescence, it's time for new capacity and responsibility for DR. We'll need to set the right boundary to enhance it and we'll need a lot of it with the closure of SONGS and the integration of renewables. Existing programs have been successful and would like to see a thriving DR marketplace. DR can be either demand-side or supply-side to address the different qualities of DR. We need to fix inefficiencies and we must value DR appropriately. We also need to coordinate with RA and LTPP proceedings, as well as integrate with EE. I'd like to resolve issues early and I look forward to working the rulemaking. Thanks to Policy & Planning group for working on the OIR and ALJ Hymes.

Peterman - Glad to see the OIR. Thanks to all for working on it. She recently sat in on the reliability workshop and sees the importance of automation and this should be something considered. Cautions the next steps so that they don't do damage to existing DR programs. We need to work with all stakeholders.

Florio - We've been tinkering with this issue of supply-side DR (e.g., market integrated) which has had some progress but it's been very slow. The OIR is not talking about throwing away existing programs but we need to embrace the new world with technology so not to impact businesses. Looking forward to working on rulemaking and unlocking the full potential of DR.

Sandoval - Happy to support OIR. DR is important and we need to look to faster DR . So Cal has been responsive to reducing the load and we see the power of the people. AutoDR can marry EE with technology and that too often we looked at EE and DR in separate buckets. Need to consider how to reduce costs to increase EE and DR to reduce load.

Ferron - Agree with many of the comments. Thanked ALJ Hymes for last minute change to include financing piece. We need to examine DR programs and whether there are high up-front costs are barriers. Also supports the integration of EE and DR for all with the advent of new and cheap technology. Overall as we expand many existing programs, we need to streamline the process for market certainty.