LOAD MANAGEMENT

When projected energy demand surpasses readily available supply, utilities are faced with a painful economic decision. They can either import exorbitantly priced energy from the spot market, or bring online expensive peaker plants. Obligated to meet consumer demand, utilities must choose between two undesirable courses of action.

The advent of the smart grid offers another alternative. By engaging with consumers in a way that is impactful but not obtrusive, utilities are able to include managed distributed load in their day-ahead planning. Automated load reduction events can be planned and executed to ensure system reliability, avoid peak energy prices and defer investments in new power plants.

GridPoint’s load management application offers robust methods of managing peak demand and shaping load throughout the distribution system. Sophisticated prediction algorithms, automated scheduling and advanced measurement and verification tools deliver the results utilities need.

GridPoint is proud to be a member of Xcel Energy’s SmartGrid Consortium, providing load management capabilities to the SmartGridCity project in Boulder, Colorado.