A customer
wants to sign up for the Demand Reduction Program offered by the
utility which would give the utility permission to cycle customer’s
air conditioning system during peak load periods in return for
incentives. The utility representative signs up the customer, handles
installation of needed devices along with a new interval meter for
gathering Measurement and Verification data and implements the
customer’s participation in the program. The data collected by the
interval meter is used in report to the Public Utility Commission as
well as to provide Power Purchases department at the utility with a
tool for economic dispatch, and to the Transmission and Distribution
(Transmission Service Provider) department at the utility for load
reduction dispatch by Transmission Service Provider circuit.
Description
A western utility has a
residential customer base of 1 million meters. The meters are
installed in single-family detached housing (SFD), single-family
attached housing (SFA), apartment buildings, and mobile homes. The
utility has a high residential turnover rate as customers come to and
leave the service area more frequently than typical utilities.
The utility has demand relief
requirements and has multiple demand response programs in place. It
additionally supports active residential conservation programs as well
as residential alternate, renewable, and distributed generation.
The results of all of these
efforts are reported to the Sate PUC as part of their requirements to
receive credit in rate base.
On Monday morning a residential
customer of utility X calls Customer Service and requests a “sign up”
in the utility’s air-conditioning demand response programs that they
read about in the newspaper. The Customer Service (CSR) representative
transfers the call along with the customers account information
“utility program specialist” while the customer is still on the line.
The program specialist (PS) opens up a computer file that delineates
the features and requirements for participation in each of the
utilities AC demand reduction program (that includes a gateway
product, a smart thermostat product, and a simple switching product,
all with different incentives). The customer selects a specific
program and the specialist asks pertinent questions about the
customer’s participation to help reduce problems.
The specialist sees a “flag” that
shows that the customer is in a new subdivision and that the utility
needs additional Measurement & Verification (M & V) data in that area.
The specialist selects a convenient date for installation of
equipment, including a new interval meter, and to start the program at
the specific residence. Once the program specifics and the customer
specifics are entered into the Demand Response database, the
installation company is notified of the specific program requested,
the installation date, customer information and specific tracking
number/ID. The information is automatically downloaded into a PDA
designed to accommodate the data. The meter shop is also notified and
prepares a meter installation at the same time as the curtailment
equipment. The meter number and associated information is loaded into
the PDA for processing along with the other data.
The installer places the
appropriate equipment, in this case a DLC switch, on the customers AC
unit, tests the system with a handheld unit, and places all
information (including the meter ID) into the same PDA as used to
download the original request. At the end of the day, the PDA is
connected to the installers computer system and via a web-hosted
database all information is uploaded to the utility. The utility
software automatically notifies the Demand Response Program Manager (DRPM),
advises billing that the customer will receive a financial incentive,
which is listed on their monthly bill during the appropriate summer
months and subtracted from the “amount due” line. At the end of the
summer program, the billing software automatically reverts to the
normal invoice and removes incentives from the bill.
In addition to billing, the
program initiation also triggers a summer-months energy
consumption-tracking program. The software recalls specific customer
usage data for the previous year for the months of June, July, August
and September. The database also includes average daily and monthly
ambient temperatures, which will be used with customer usage data to
ascertain savings and relative demand reduction. The information is
inserted into a database that is used by the Demand Response Program
Manager to assess relative load reduction as well as to determine if
free-ridership is an issue. In this case the meter data is also
collected remotely by a contracted M & V firm via satellite. The data
is logged in and specific software calculates actual demand reduction
during the summer curtailment periods. The data is used to advise the
PUC of program results as well as to provide Power Purchases
department at the utility with a tool for economic dispatch, and to
the Transmission and Distribution (Transmission Service Provider)
department at the utility for load reduction dispatch by Transmission
Service Provider circuit.
Those
entities that are located at customer’s
premises
Actor
Name
Actor
Type (person, device, system etc.)
Actor
Description
Customer
Person
One
requesting the sign up for the Demand Reduction
Program.
Customer
Communication Portal
System
System
handling communications function at customer’s
premises
DLC Switch
Controller
Device
Device
performing cycling of the air conditioning unit
Meter Device
Device
Device
capturing energy usage data for use in Measurement
& Verification purposes.
Remote Meter Device
System
System for
transmitting interval meter data on demand to the
utility [in this case, using a satellite
communications link provided by a third party
contracted by the utility].
.
Grouping
(Community) ,
Group
Description
Load
Serving Entity Customer Service
Those
entities that are charged with handling
customer service functions for the power
company
Actor
Name
Actor
Type (person, device, system etc.)
Actor
Description
Load
Serving Entity
System
Power
company communications system that handles
customer call center services
CSR
Person
Customer
Service Representative (CSR), Person who
interfaces with the customer initially for the
power company
Utility
Program Specialist
Person
Person who
handles load reduction-related services for the
customer
Customer
Information Database
System
System
that contains information about customer accounts
of the power company
Demand Reduction
Program Database
System
System
that contains information about all of the Demand Reduction
Program [Demand Reduction Program Database]
Database
offered by the utility, participation
requirements, equipment details and links to
customer billing system for passing incentive
information
Customer Billing
System
System
System
that handles generation of bills for the services
provided to the customer
Customer ID
Creation
Device
A common
customer identification key that is used by
service providers authorized by the customer to
identify all of their service accounts
Customer Site
Installation Database
System
System
that handles scheduling installation of equipment
at customer premises [in this case, the DLC
switch], specifying equipment to be installed,
confirmation of completion of installation and
links to the billing system using the common
customer id
M & V Information
Database
System
System
that contains M & V information broken down by
utility service area segments [such as residential
subdivisions] that can be used by various utility
departments, such as Power Purchase, Transmission
Service Provider, etc
Grouping
(Community) ,
Group
Description
Installer
Those
entities that are associated with the
installation function
Actor
Name
Actor
Type (person, device, system etc.)
Actor
Description
Installer
Person
Utility
person assigned to handle the specified customer
site installation task
DLC Switch
Controller
System
System
handling cycling of air conditioning equipment at
customer’s premises [generally consists of a RF
receiver and a switch component to turn the air
conditioning compressor on/off].
Meter
Device
Device
Device for
capturing energy usage information along with time
periods during the day when the energy was
consumed.
Meter ID
Provider
Device
Unique
identifier that can be used by the utility to
track specific meter installed at customer site,
in this case the new interval meter
Remote Meter Device
System
System for
transmitting interval meter data on demand to the
utility [in this case, using a satellite
communications link provided by a third party
contracted by the utility].
Installation System
System
System for
managing the installation activities at the
customer site – in this case consists of a PDA
that contains the installation order information,
a test unit to verify proper installation and
software to record installation details.
Installer Computer
System
System for
accessing utility’s installation database,
downloading specific order information to the
InstallationSystem PDA, communications link to the
utility’s network to access order data and to
upload confirmation data.
Customer Site
Installation Database
System
System
that handles scheduling installation of equipment
at customer premises [in this case, the DLC
switch], specifying equipment to be installed,
confirmation of completion of installation and
links to the billing system using the common
customer id
Grouping
(Community) ,
Group
Description
Others
Those
entities that are involved in this
activity, but do not fit in any of the
Groupings above
Actor
Name
Actor
Type (person, device, system etc.)
Actor
Description
Metering
Person
Department
at the utility that manages meters and their
installation at the customer site
Power
Purchase
Person
Department
at the utility company that handles procurement of
power resources for the utility company.
Transmission Service Provider
Person
Department
at the utility company that handles the
Transmission and Distribution (T&D) functions for
the utility company.
Satellite
Communications Network
System
System
responsible for remote meter reading and
transmitting the data to the utility company.
Public Utility
Commission
Person
State
Public Utility Commission {PUC): The entity that
receives results of the utility’s demand reduction
program.
Demand Response
Program Manager
Person
Person
managing the Demand Reduction Program Database at
the utility
Energy Service
Provider
Service Provider
Air Conditioning
Equipment
Information exchanged
Information Object Name
Information Object Description
Customer
Demand Reduction Program Signup Request
Information from the customer call for signing up
to participate in the utility’s Demand Reduction
Program
Customer
System Installation Order
Information on scheduling the installation at
customer’s site, equipment to be installed
[interval meter, remote meter reading module and
DLC], programming information on cycling regime,
details to be passed on to the billing program on
initiating incentive reward, intimation to Demand
Response Program Manager and triggers to start
tracking energy usage for program performance
verification, and interval data for utility’s M &
V functions
M & V
Information Request
Information trigger generated by the utility’s
customer information database to initiate
recording of interval energy usage data
M & V
Information Delivery
Delivery
of M & V information collected from customer’s
site to utility’s Power Purchase and Transmission
Service Provider departments and to the Public
Utility Commission for program results
verification
Activities/Services
Activity/Service Name
Activities/Services Provided
Signup Customer to
Requested Demand Reduction Program
Initiate actions
to modify customer’s account information to
indicate details of participation in the Demand
Reduction Program specified by the customer,
generate trigger to installation scheduling
program, and generate trigger to the Metering
Department to install a new interval meter for M &
V functionality
Set Up Customer
System Installation Order
Initiate actions
to schedule installation at customer site, and
transmit customer site information, equipment
details and scheduling to the installer
System
Installation
Perform
installation of specified load control system at
customer site, verify system performance, and
upload installation confirmation back to utility;
perform installation of interval meter with remote
meter reading module, verify operation and notify
utility of interval meter installation
Installation
Follow-up
Initiate actions
to update load reduction system to send out
appropriate control signals to customer unit,
update customer billing information with
applicable incentives, alert the applicable Demand
Response Program Manager about installation,
initiate energy usage tracking, initiate obtaining
interval data and set up flags in the billing
database to revert to regular billing at the end
of incentive period
M & V Information
Delivery
Initiate actions
to transmit interval energy usage data to
utility’s Power Purchase and Transmission Service
Provider departments, and transmit results of the
Demand Reduction Program Database to the Public
Utility Commission
Contracts/Regulations
Contract/Regulation
Impact of Contract/Regulation on
Function
Demand Reduction Program
Tariffs
Equipment installed at
customer site, cycling regime implemented and
incentive rewards applied to customer bill
Policy
From Actor
May
Shall Not
Shall
Description (verb)
To Actor
Cycle Energy to
Equipment
Energy Service
Provider
X
Cycle power to air
conditioning unit on utility trigger
Air Conditioning
Equipment
Provide Load
Control Equipment
Service Provider
X
Install specified
equipment at customer site
Customer
Provide Incentive
Rewards
Energy Service
Provider
X
Provide incentive
reward on customer energy bill
Customer
Modify Incentive
Rewards
Energy Service
Provider
X
Modify incentive
reward on customer energy bill
Customer
Install Meter
Device
Energy Service
Provider
X
Install new
interval meter at customer site with remote meter
reading capability
Energy Service
Provider
Constraint
Type
Description
Applies to
Program Participation
Level of Participation
The level of Demand Reduction Program
participation chosen by the customer
Power cycling regime implemented and amount of
incentive reward provided
Reward Period
Inactive
Months of the year when the program is not active
[i.e., non-summer months for this program]
No incentive reward provided
Energy Usage
Minimum Threshold
Tracked energy usage to meet or exceed program
requirements to qualify to participate in the
program and receive incentive reward on bill
Eligibility to continue participation in the
program
