As a public service to the San Juan Islands community, JoeBay U is pleased to offer information on an emerging trend in electrical energy management, soon to be brought to your attention by a utility, local, state or national government near you. The suits will identify this process as "Demand Side Management", about which, today, you will find precious little information unless you have a doctorate in electrical engineering. Demand Side Management (DSM) refers to a variety of techniques where an effort is made to control the demand for electricity rather than the supply. Perhaps the simplest DSM technique is to turn off the lights when you leave a room. DSM is emerging as a significant topic because the easy and least expensive methods for producing electricity are now either gone or cost a lot or have damaging side effects, like nuclear waste or carbon dioxide. Thus if there are new challenges on the supply side, it becomes time to explore and develop lower cost alternatives on the demand side.
One of the largest challenges of meeting the region's electrical needs is ensuring there is adequate electricity (supply) during times of peak demand. In the Northwest, the peak demand for electricity during the 24 hour day is the morning, from 6 am to noon. (Almost no one uses power between midnight and 6 am). To encourage customers to shift their electrical demand "off peak", that is, to shift from the morning period to any other time of the day (the "off peak" period), some utilities, and Opalco is one, offer "Time of Use" (TOU) pricing. In this scheme, each kilowatt hour (kwhr) of power used during the peak period is 3x as expensive as power used off-peak. However, to sweeten the offer, off-peak power is about half the cost of a kwhr for the normal (i.e., non time of use) customer. Thus if customers are willing to "shave the peak", and move their use of power to the off-peak period, they will save money compared to what they would pay if they were not participating in a TOU program. To learn more about how much can be saved, see the Mama Bear section of the Proactricity web site.
Shaving the peak creates a two-fer win-win situation. The customer saves money with in general little or no inconvenience, and the power company (the supply guys) don't have to build new power plants to provide power during only a few hours a day when the need is high.
Right now, a TOU metering program is available at Opalco. DSM under this scheme means you, the customer, need to watch what you do when. In most cases, this is a no brainer. For example, don't run the dryer or bake a cake in the morning. Other methods to control peak power are available and relatively simple.
In the future, as noted in this article, many DSM techniques will be automated. Even without opposition by all the usual suspects, it will take at least 5 to 10 years for these technologies, including the smart grid, to become "normal", but, you don't have to wait. You can participate, save money, lower emissions, and be part of the solution, now.
To learn more, contact Opalco (376-3500), Google "Demand Side Managment" or read the Wiki.
You can also "hire the professor" to discuss specific DSM applications for your situation.
