DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
The grid operator overseeing U.S. eastern, mid-Atlantic and
Midwestern power markets on Thursday asked federal regulators for
permission to set tariffs for two new types of conservation
products, called demand response, that would allow their use
throughout the year, rather than only summer months when power
demand is highest.
PJM Interconnection said that as the demand-response market has
grown, it makes sense to allow more of those resources to be used,
not just during the summer as is currently allowed, but other times
of year, and under tariffs that boost requirements for ensuring
that the demand reductions are achieved.
Demand response providers like Comverge Inc. (COMV) and EnerNOC
Inc. (ENOC) offer to remove chunks of power demand from the grid
when needed through agreements with power users to reduce their
consumption on request.
The proposed new demand-response tariffs are the result of
discussions with power market participants about the best way to
expand "demand resource product alternatives ... and enable the
continued robust growth of demand response in the PJM Region," the
grid operator wrote in a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
The products would be offered, along with conventional power
generation and traditional summer demand-response products, in
auctions held by PJM to ensure available generating capacity.
-By Cassandra Sweet, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6468;
cassandra.sweet@dowjones.com