Energy industry stakeholders recently convened at CPower’s GridFuture conference to pave the way for a better tomorrow for generations to come.

Path-blazing customers and partners, government officials and executives from companies accelerating the trajectory of the energy transition explored ways to create a clean, flexible and dependable energy future with distributed energy resources and virtual power plants.

“Our goal with this event is to serve as a catalyst for progress, fostering an environment where ideas converge, partnerships are forged and knowledge is turned into action. As far as the energy transition is concerned, collaboration will be the driving force behind success,” CPower CEO Michael Smith said in opening remarks at the MGM National Harbor just outside of Washington, D.C. on Jan 23.

GridFuture participants collaborated across a mix of meetings, panel discussions and presentations over two days. Here are three key takeaways.

1. The grid needs flexibility.

Merely responding to grid disruption is no longer sufficient because our existing grid infrastructure will not carry us into a clean energy future, warned a panel of industry CEOs.

The grid needs more flexibility to balance supply and demand as traditional “peaking” generators retire, renewable generation DERs increase, load from artificial intelligence technology soars, electrification expands and extreme weather events multiply.

Additionally, an estimated 1,250 GW of “unbuilt” clean energy is tied up in regulatory queues awaiting approval to be connected to the grid, which is an amount of capacity roughly equivalent to every generator currently in operation.

What’s more, when electricity demand on the grid is high, utilities and grid operators turn on peaker plants to meet demand. These centralized generators rely on large, remotely located power plants connected by transmission lines that may be susceptible to disruptions from extreme weather, cybersecurity and equipment issues. Therefore, they may not be available during peak times.

Ultimately, LS Power CEO Paul Segal said, “Our grid has become less reliable exactly when we need it to be more reliable than ever.”

2. VPPs provide grid flexibility.

Credit: Jon Armstrong
U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office Engagement Officer Jen Downing discusses the future of VPPs.

In aggregating customer DERs and dispatching them together, VPPs offer fast, reliable and affordable ways to balance the grid. “[VPP] technology is a solution that is real today and that will redefine how we generate, distribute, and consume electricity. The benefits to energy users, our communities and our planet will only be more enhanced as we continue in scale,” Smith said.

Smith likened the potential of VPPs to the values of networks in telecommunications. According to Metcalfe’s Law, a network grows more valuable as its connections increase, Smith noted.

“The number of DERs that could be used in VPPs is projected to grow by 15 times over between now and 2035. This will create tremendous value and opportunity both for the grid and energy users,” Smith said.

Tripling current VPP scale by 2030 could address 10-20% of peak load nationally while saving $10 billion per year in grid spending, said Jen Downing, E at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office, who detailed the value and opportunity that VPPs presents in a keynote address at GridFuture.

Pulling from the DOE’s Pathways to Commercial Liftoff for Virtual Power Plants report, Downing explained how VPPs provide resource adequacy at a low cost while building, reducing emissions, alleviating transmission and distribution congestion and empowering communities.

3. Customers balance the grid through VPPs.

Credit: Jon Armstrong
Quinn Laudenslager of Energy Toolbase, left, and Metal Technolgies’ Nick Heiny shared examples of how their companies help the grid.

Large energy users with DERs enrolled in VPPs, such as commercial and industrial customers, know that they can help the grid by flexing their loads as needed.

“Flexibility can be minimally disruptive, like participating in a synchronized reserves program, or a major disruption like an emergency demand response event,” said Nick Heiny, vice president of Administration and General Counsel for Metal Technologies, an Indiana-based metal casting company with five foundries and two machining centers in the US and Mexico.

Heiny joined Quinn Laudenslager, vice president of Product for Energy Toolbase, for a CPower customer panel discussing what “flexibility” means on the demand-side and how energy users can use their flexible DERs to address resilience, reliability, sustainability or other business goals.

“There’s always a balance between operating and curtailment, and large energy users need to be mindful of their loads,” Heiny said. Thus, Metal Technologies uses CPower’s EnerWise® Site Optimization to maximize grid revenue and on-bill savings while minimizing disruptions.

“Flexibility also lowers our effective cost per kWh, which allows us to compete with overseas competitors that are adding significant amounts of inexpensive coal generation,” Heiny said.

The communities that surround Metal Technologies’ plants view the company as a good neighbor as well. Commercial and industrial energy users like Metal Technologies reduce carbon emissions when they curtail their loads, Heiny noted. Therefore, they can help their communities while benefiting financially.

Recognizing their contributions to decarbonization, grid flexibility and industry innovations, CPower honored Metal Technologies, Energy Toolbase and other customers and partners at its Customer-Powered Grid® Awards during GridFuture.

Check The Current again soon for more from the Customer-Powered Grid Awards and additional recaps and videos from GridFuture.

Join us on the journey to the Customer-Powered Grid—and the flexible, clean and dependable energy future that it will enable. Call us at 844-276-9371 or visit CPowerEnergy.com/contact to learn how we can help you most effectively invest in DERs and participate in VPPs to support sustainability, improve grid reliability and increase energy resiliency.

Glenn Bogarde
Since becoming CPower’s Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Customer Experience, Glenn has led the company’s sales team on a nationwide mission to help customers get the most from their DER monetization participation. Glenn brings to CPower more than 20 years of sales experience in the enterprise software and energy industries.

Two large Texas energy users recently shared how much revenue they have earned for improving grid reliability. In separate public events, CPower recently presented San Jacinto College and the Houston Independent School District (HISD) with more than $160,000 in demand response revenue.

“HISD and San Jacinto College exemplify how schools and educational institutions of all levels can make money while keeping the lights on for their communities by reducing loads when demand peaks on the grid,” said James Vasquez, Account Executive, Texas, for CPower.

Both customers participate in Texas grid services programs available through the state’s grid operator, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). HISD and San Jacinto College’s most recent earnings came from ERCOT’s Emergency Response Services (ESR) program, which pays customers for being available to curtail their electricity loads within 10 or 30 minutes.

San Jacinto College

CPower Account Executive James Vasquez, far left, presents a “big check” to representatives of San Jacinto College.

San Jacinto College received a “big check” for $48,000 for the ERS 2023 Summer Season. The college has five campuses in metropolitan Houston and has earned a total of $434,000 since it enrolled in demand response in February 2016.

The college began working with CPower in late 2022, after a turnover in key facility personnel, Vasquez said. At the time, the college was enrolled for 400 kW between two buildings. After several discussions, including a site visit by a CPower engineer, the college increased its demand response participation by 2,600 kW across nine more buildings.

Depending on the season, San Jacinto College now has 2-3 MW enrolled in demand response. Currently, it is enrolled in the ERS Winter Season (December 2023-March 2024) with a projected revenue payout of $75,000.

Houston Independent School District

From left: Stephanie Walker, HISD; Jeffrey Norman, CPower; Kirby Williams, HISD; and James Vasquez, CPower

CPower presented Houston Independent School District with a “big check” for $114,753, which reflected its combined earnings from enrollment in CenterPoint Energy and ERS Summer Season (June-September) demand response programs. “We were told that this check represented the salaries for two teachers—plus more,” Vasquez said.

With more than 189,934 students and 274 schools across 333 square miles within greater Houston, HISD is the largest public school system in Texas and the eighth largest in the nation. Fourteen percent of the district’s buildings are enrolled in ERS.

HISD has been paid approximately $200,000 since it started participating in demand response in October 2021. It is projected to receive another $44,000 in revenue for the ERS Winter Season that ends in March.

HISD and San Jacinto College are just two examples of large Texas energy users benefiting from helping the grid while ensuring the comfort and safety of their students and faculty. In addition to the ERS program, ERCOT offers a mix of other grid services opportunities for commercial, industrial and institutional customers in Texas, including different ways to reduce energy charges and earn revenue.

If you would like to learn more about how your Texas organization could save money, get paid and help the grid, visit our Texas demand response page.

Contrary to what it may seem, artificial intelligence has not taken over the world, or at least not yet. But you can be excused for believing that AI is in control given the buzz surrounding the technology’s rapidly expanding reach into everything, everywhere – and the world of energy is no exception.

Curious as to how AI views the optimization of distributed energy resources, we asked ChatGPT how AI can be used to optimize DERs. Although ChatGPT summarized available information nicely, the popular, AI-powered natural language processing tool stopped short of telling an energy user how they can optimize their DERs and how they would benefit.

Here are four ways that AI can optimize DERs, according to ChatGPT, along with CPower’s comments on each.

1) Optimizing DERs for Demand Response

ChatGPT says: AI can analyze energy consumption patterns and predict demand fluctuations. By considering factors like weather, time of day and user preferences, AI algorithms can optimize the timing and magnitude of energy generation and storage to match demand. This helps balance supply and demand, reducing peak loads and optimizing the utilization of DERs.

CPower adds: Flexible DERs are ideal for balancing supply and demand and avoiding blackouts or brownouts because they can provide a range of valuable grid services. AI can help customers optimize participation in demand response programs for the good of their organization and the grid. For example, in working across multiple DERs, customer sites and DR programs in real-time, CPower’s EnerWise® Site Optimization helps energy users make money, reduce costs or both by providing grid services that improve reliability.

2) Forecasting Energy

ChatGPT says: AI can leverage historical data, weather patterns and other relevant information to accurately predict future energy generation and consumption. This enables proactive planning and scheduling of DERs, allowing for better integration with the grid and avoiding potential imbalances.

CPower adds: Given that the grid often struggles to maintain balance through challenges, like extreme weather or unexpected changes in supply or demand, AI’s ability to forecast accurately is vital in enabling the fast and flexible grid that we need to power the clean energy transition. Real-time insight into demand is increasingly critical as intermittent renewable generation resources, like solar and wind, account for an ever-larger percentage of the nation’s power mix.

3) Allocating Resources

ChatGPT says: AI can optimize the allocation of energy resources in a distributed network. By considering factors like energy prices, load profiles and system constraints, AI algorithms can determine the most efficient distribution of energy generation, storage and consumption across DERs. This leads to better utilization of available resources and reduces energy waste.

CPower adds: The ability to quickly dispatch DERs in response to shifts in supply or demand is essential to keeping the grid balanced. EnerWise helps maintain balance by automatically allocating each asset at a site to available programs on an hourly basis within the constraints of the hardware or associated permitting/ incentive structures.

4) Participating in Energy Markets and Trading

ChatGPT says: AI can facilitate the participation of DER owners in energy markets. By analyzing market conditions, price signals and regulatory requirements, AI algorithms can guide decision-making for optimal energy trading. This enables DER owners to sell excess energy back to the grid or participate in peer-to-peer energy trading platforms, maximizing their economic benefits.

CPower adds: Combining technology with human know-how remains essential to fully unlocking the value of DERs. For example, while EnerWise efficiently enables DER participation across all available on-bill cost avoidance options and grid services programs, CPower’s experts mitigate revenue complexity and minimize risk for customers by managing changes in more than 60 solutions nationwide, including automated DR solutions.

Looking ahead, ChatGPT noted that optimizing DERs with AI enhances their efficiency, reliability and sustainability while unlocking the full potential of renewable energy sources. At CPower, we would add that we are enabling a flexible, clean and dependable energy future by forming the nation’s largest virtual power plant. In aggregating 6.4 GW of flexible DER capacity across more than 24,000 customer sites, we are helping to create the Customer-Powered Grid™ that will smooth the energy transition while helping energy users earn the most value from their resources.

If you would like to learn more about EnerWise or other ways to optimize your energy assets, call us at 844-276-9371 or visit CPowerEnergy.com/contact to find out how we can help you create and implement a DER strategy that works.

Kyle Harbaugh

Senior VP | Technology

Kyle is a results-driven leader with a track record of delivering high-value products that increase revenue, improve organizational productivity and create large-scale cost savings. A motivated executive who desires to lead fast-paced teams through the creative and challenging process of bringing products to life, from whiteboard to launch.

As Senior Vice President at CPower, he is responsible for Information Technology and Product Management. Previously, he held several technology leadership positions at Constellation Energy. He is also an AEE Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and an AEE Certified Demand Side Management professional (CDSM).

Surging capacity prices present swelling opportunities for commercial, industrial and institutional energy consumers willing to shed load in New York.

With prices up 300% since 2019, participants in the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO)’s Special Case Resources (SCR) Program can earn revenue while reducing costs—without compromising their operations. Customers can also further boost their financial benefits by capitalizing on demand response programs through the state’s utilities, thereby maximizing revenue streams to lower costs.

Seizing the opportunities available begins with enrolling in the SCR Program. Customers who enroll by the end of the month could begin participating as soon as February and earn three months of revenue in the Winter SCR Program, which spans from November to April. The Summer SCR Program will last from May to October.

Program prices typically average $4 per KW in winter and $6 per KW in summer. At Multiple Intervenors Annual Meeting in October, CPower shared how some industrial customers earn $46,000 per MW of curtailable load for two hours of annual curtailment in SCR.

Customers earn passive revenue in SCR for 10 months out of the year just by being ready to help the grid. Except for a one-hour Summer test commitment in August and a one-hour Winter test commitment in February, customers have not been asked to curtail loads for any grid emergencies in recent years.

Additionally, there are several demand response programs available to C&Is in New York through local utilities, such as the Commercial System Relief Program (CSRP) and Distribution Load Relief Program (DLRP). Customers can reap more revenue by using the same curtailment practices to participate in more than one program because SCR, CSRP and DLRP can be combined, or “stacked.”

The value of demand response programs will likely continue to rise as well. The same factors that have driven prices up in recent years should remain contributors, such as the retirement of electricity-generating power plants amidst increasing demand for electricity due to the electrification of heating and transportation.

Prices will rise further if demand outpaces supply, which can cause brownouts or blackouts. For example, NYISO has warned that a possible 446 MW shortfall threatens grid reliability in New York City for Summer 2025.

If an energy consumer would like to support grid reliability while earning revenue, CPower can project how much revenue a customer could earn through demand response programs based on market conditions. Beginning with the SCR program, the longest-running demand response program in New York, CPower can estimate earnings for any combination of SCR, CSRP and DLRP participation.

If you would like more information, please contact me at 860-371-5518 or at keith.black@cpowerenergy.com.

Keith Black

As CPower’s Regional Vice President and General Manager for the Northeast, Keith has leveraged his unique combination of sales and operations expertise, energy business relationship development, channel development, sales opportunity identification and solutions management, backed by his intrinsic talent for building winning business strategies, to help the company and its customers achieve strong and sustainable financial gains.

In leading CPower’s business and growth strategy for New England and New York, he has helped expand New England’s leading edge of solar, storage, and residential monetization and captured market share in all aspects of the evolving DER landscape in New York. Succeeding in these exciting and cutting-edge DER opportunities has come with a complex array of technologies, controls and partner integrations, as well as a demanding and high touch for his team.

A versatile, high-energy executive, he has extensive experience in leading high-performing teams, at businesses from Fortune 500 organizations through start-ups, and guiding companies to profitable growth. With more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry, he has become a trusted energy advisor to both prospects and customers, enabling them to reduce risk, lower costs and use renewable resources when possible.

The steadily declining costs of solar, wind, batteries, EVs and other key technologies—borne by market forces and big policy initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act—seem all but certain to transform America’s energy system from one primarily reliant on oil and gas to one that is increasingly electrified and renewable—a process often referred to as the energy transition.

To make this energy transition a smooth one, policymakers are increasingly clamoring for grid flexibility: resources that can quickly respond to rapidly changing conditions to keep the grid in balance. Grid flexibility will continue to come in several forms; but distributed, demand-side solutions—dubbed DERs (distributed energy resources) and VPPs (virtual power plants)—are gathering more and more interest, from town halls and statehouses all the way up to the White House.

And believe it or not, if you are a demand response participant, you are a valuable component of the nation’s fleet of DERs and VPPs.

In a new whitepaper, Mathew Sachs, CPower’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development, and I break down what is driving this growing need for grid flexibility; what all these new terms mean (in plain English) and how they relate to more-familiar concepts like demand response, capacity and energy; and why this creates significant long-term opportunity for energy users in what  we call the Customer-Powered Grid™.

We aimed to keep this short whitepaper informative, constructive to the latest research and policy work, and with your ‘so what?’ in mind. Ultimately, we wrote it to start a conversation with you.

The energy transition is already in motion, but the smoothness or rockiness of this massive shift—compounded by an aging grid and extreme weather—is an open question. It’s a question that CPower wants to work on with customers, policymakers, grid operators, utilities and other key stakeholders to resolve for our common safety and prosperity.

We hope you’ll give the whitepaper a read, and reach out at vpps@cpowerenergymanagment.com with thoughts, comments and questions.

Read our full whitepaper to learn more: Creating the Customer-Powered Grid™: Enabling the Energy Transition with Distributed Energy Resources and Virtual Power Plant.

Ben Pickard

Ben Pickard manages strategic M&A and new growth initiatives for CPower as its Vice President of Corporate Development. Prior, Ben was a Director at National Grid, where he developed and executed strategic applications of venture-backed technology to some of the utility company’s most challenging problems; as well as non-regulated distributed energy investments and partnerships including with EnerNOC, Enbala and Sunrun, and scaled entry into renewable project development via Geronimo Energy.

Earlier roles include infrastructure principal investing with the Macquarie Group, urban climate policy with the Clinton Foundation and distributed energy business creation spanning lighting retrofits, rooftop solar, energy storage, and backup generation. His market and policy analysis on electric utilities has appeared in Greentech Media and the New York Times. Ben is based in New York City and earned an AB magna cum laude in Social Studies from Harvard.