Demand response gets hotter in dog days of summer

The extended spell of dry, hot weather across the northeast United States has spotlighted the urgency need for better systems to manage peak demand. This week, one of the players in the demand response market, EnerNOC, announced a massive deal with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that will provide demand response services around up to 560 megawatts of electricity.

In the press release for the deal, the TVA's spokesperson cites demand reduction and cost savings for consumers that the program will bring to the commercial, institutional and industrial sites that will participate. Aside from getting a break by be willing to cut usage during peak demand events, participants in the program will get access to EnerNOC's energy management platform, DemandSMART.

The thing about demand response that is most compelling: it makes better use of the existing power in the grid as we stumble to figure out better way to generate more capacity and smarter ways to direct the electricity supply that already exists.

EnerNOC isn't the only player in demand response, certainly. Greentech Media just published a list of 5 demand response players you should know not just in the summer time when its steamy, but in the winter when ice and adverse weather conditions might compromise distribution lines or substations. Definitely read their article for the rationale, but aside from EnerNOC you might want to research these four companies: Comverge, CPower, Honeywell and Schneider Electric.