Modern Technology Reduces Load Control Disruptions

Homeowners, farmers, and commercial/industrial businesses experienced fewer interruptions this spring to the appliances they have enrolled in their cooperative’s demand response programs thanks to grid modernization tools implemented by Great River Energy (GRE).

Through the dual fuel load control program, cooperative members can sign up to have their heating systems fueled by a secondary system — such as oil or gas, rather than electricity — during times of peak electricity use. In exchange, members receive a discounted electricity rate and the cooperative is able to reduce wholesale costs. GRE is also able to dispatch these resources to reduce the impacts of high market prices.

Members often associate dual fuel dispatch with extremely cold weather, but that is not always the case.

“Members don’t always understand why we have to control load during shoulder months,” said Dylan Aafedt, Vice President of Business Solutions for Lake Region Electric Cooperative, referring to the spring and fall months when temperatures are relatively mild. “This can create dissatisfaction and result in calls to the co-op from members looking for an explanation.”

Technology investments and collaboration among GRE and its member cooperatives made this possible. Member cooperatives shared data associated with dual fuel program usage from their advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). GRE was able to use this large sample of data to predict the available demand response for this program for any hour of the day and across any temperature condition. 

This flexibility of GRE’s distributed energy demand response programs reduces costs, promotes reliability, and encourages positive member experiences.