Apr 18 2008
eps corp, a national provider of energy and carbon emissions solutions that help businesses address environmental and financial risks of climate change, announces the achievement of its milestone goal to implement 25 megawatts of Demand Response for industrial customers in California.
Demand Response refers to mechanisms that manage the electrical demand of customers in response to grid conditions. Demand Response customers employ dedicated control systems to shed loads in response to utility needs or market price conditions. Services requiring high energy demand are reduced according to a preplanned load prioritization scheme during the critical peak timeframes, usually the hottest parts of summer afternoons.
Today, eps corp announced the successful implementation of 26.9 megawatts of Demand Response in 14 locations, servicing major California utilities. The company deploys advanced technologies that automatically adjust industrial customers' services in order to greatly affect overall energy savings while reducing carbon emissions. By reducing customers' energy usage without noticeably affecting industrial output, the reliability of the power grid improves and reduces customers' energy costs without affecting their productivity. Businesses save money while ensuring they have the capacity to effectively handle peak energy loads when they occur.
"Everyone remembers the rolling blackouts and staggering energy costs of the California electricity crisis, which emphasized just how important energy management is to bottom-line financial performance and grid stability," said Shiva Subramanya, COO of eps. "We set an aggressive goal to achieve 25 megawatts of peak demand cushion for the California utilities by working with our key customers, and are very proud to have developed and deployed such a significant amount of peak load reduction capacity that can act as a buffer during periods of high electric grid stress."
A 2003 study by the International Energy Agency estimated that just a 5% lowering of demand during the California energy crisis would have resulted in a 50% wholesale price reduction to California customers. In addition, a Carnegie Mellon study in 2006 looked at the importance of Demand Response for the electricity industry and found that even small shifts in peak demand would have a large effect on consumer savings: a 1% shift in peak demand would result in savings of 3.9%, or billions of dollars at the system level. Demand Response emerged as a primary solution to avoid another crisis, and with already more than 25 megawatts of Demand Response in operation across California, eps corp has taken a strong lead in the nascent field.
"We're very pleased to have achieved this 25 megawatt demand response milestone, and we will continue to bring innovative solutions to address the specific needs of our customers and the changing energy and carbon-regulatory landscape," said the company's chief executive, Jay Zoellner.