Research & Development 2019-2020 Final Report for PowerShift
Changing energy systems—from the fuels that generate electricity and the ways in which utilities interact with customers, to the role of increasingly mature energy efficiency programs—require all energy industry players to think differently about what they offer to their customers. Ever since 2000, when the first statewide energy efficiency utility, Efficiency Vermont, began delivering demand-side management (DSM) services, the primary objective of most of its energy efficiency initiatives has been to provide least-cost electric energy supply for Vermonters. This objective has historically been met by traditional, “passive” energy efficiency measures. Historically, Efficiency Vermont has not delivered demand response (DR) measures, which reduce demand (kW) during a utility’s and the regional grid’s defined peak periods. Nevertheless, influencing electricity grid load through energy efficiency and demand response measures has been conceptually evolving throughout the past two decades. And now, Efficiency Vermont has investigated the practical strategies for achieving grid benefits from flexible load management, through its Project PowerShift. This report describes that work.