In a provincial auction managed by Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), up-and-coming energy company, EnPowered competed alongside 22 other organizations and successfully secured a position in this year’s Demand Response program. The program helps keep the lights on when the electricity grid is strained by working with self-selected businesses to reduce their electricity, helping to avoid blackouts or outages.
“Demand Response is not a new idea, but it is ready for a change," said Tomas van Stee, founder and President of EnPowered. "The explosion of new smart-grid technologies such as industrial IoT, energy storage and building automation systems have created an emerging market where new and different customers can now participate in DR. At EnPowered, we pride ourselves on product transparency and superior customer service. Our clients are excited about the simplicity we bring to their energy management and are glad to now have a clear and easy option for DR that offers higher returns.”
Demand Response programs see customers voluntarily reduce electricity consumption during times when the electricity grid is under abnormal stress. The stress is commonly a result of extreme weather events or equipment failure, making it difficult for the IESO – the Crown corporation that operates the province's electricity market and the bulk electrical system – to match electricity supply with consumer demand. Demand Response participants help in creating a more reliable grid while offsetting a portion of their energy costs by making themselves available to reduce consumption when called upon by the IESO.
EnPowered acts as a Demand Response aggregator, pooling load reduction resources from a variety of customers across the province. EnPowered handles everything from program registration to dealing with fees or penalties that may arise due to underperformance. “We help our customers every step of the way and make sure they fully understand the program, are confident in their enrolment and are prepared to reduce load during a potential Demand Response event,” says van Stee.
EnPowered will be integrating Demand Response services into the company’s existing energy portal, which allows customers to manage their energy usage and real-time participation in programs such as the Industrial Conservation Initiative. This helps customers better understand their business’ electricity use and modify their consumption during times when electricity can be found to be extremely expensive.
About EnPowered
We all know that electricity is cheap at night and expensive during the day, but it's actually not that simple. The true cost of power is almost always very cheap, but extremely expensive for short five-min intervals. At EnPowered, we predict when these price spikes happen in advance, and help our customers to alter their usage when electricity is expensive to save up to 93 per cent on their energy costs.
Media Relations contact:
Janine Scott
janine@en-powered.com
