{"id":6774,"date":"2014-04-10T13:27:03","date_gmt":"2014-04-10T18:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=6774"},"modified":"2015-12-21T12:44:25","modified_gmt":"2015-12-21T18:44:25","slug":"update-demand-response-helped-texas-avoid-rolling-blackouts-in-the-face-of-polar-vortex-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/10\/update-demand-response-helped-texas-avoid-rolling-blackouts-in-the-face-of-polar-vortex-2\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE: Demand Response Helped Texas Avoid Rolling Blackouts in the Face of Polar Vortex"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Source:<\/a>
Source: KXXV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Good news for clean energy in Texas!<\/p>\n

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Texas\u2019 power grid operator, presented a\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0to its Board of Directors this week confirming what we already knew: demand response is a worthwhile investment that strengthens Texas’ power grid.<\/p>\n

Demand response is an innovative tool used by utilities to reward people who use less electricity during times of peak, or high, energy demand. In effect, demand response relies on people, not power plants, to meet the demand for energy. And on\u00a0January 6th<\/a>\u00a0when the\u00a0Polar Vortex hit Texas<\/a>, it did just that.<\/p>\n

Demand response kept the lights on in Texas by providing more than 600 megawatts of power to the electric grid within 45 minutes. Again on January 18th, demand response came to the power grid\u2019s rescue, when a\u00a0malfunctioning power plant<\/a>\u00a0failed to provide electricity despite mild temperatures and fairly low power demand. As noted\u00a0before<\/a>, this report highlights events that occurred during the winter of this year, at a time when Texans do not typically expect the power grid to be strained, unlike the summer. This means that a reduction in energy use \u2013 or negawatts \u2013 was able to stabilize the electric grid such that blackouts were avoided.<\/p>\n

As shown in the report, ERCOT’s\u00a0Emergency Response Service<\/a>\u00a0is a reliability mechanism used during extreme events when the power grid is at risk of rolling blackouts. Part of the program is the procurement of demand response, which was only in the pilot phase last year, but has now been formally adopted. This program was utilized during the extreme weather events this winter and relied on the participation of\u00a0hundreds<\/a>\u00a0of Texas businesses, schools, local governments and individuals.<\/p>\n

Having this performance data gives us proof that demand response is an integral tool for the electric grid.\u00a0 Plus, this technology doesn\u2019t require water, doesn\u2019t pollute, and gives individuals power over their energy use in a refined and personalized way. As this innovative technology continues to be a verified market force, we will see reliance on it increase and the consequences of our dirty energy infrastructure decrease.<\/p>\n

This content originally appeared on our Texas Clean Air Matters blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good news for clean energy in Texas! The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Texas\u2019 power grid operator, presented a\u00a0report\u00a0to its Board of Directors this week confirming what we already knew: demand response is a worthwhile investment that strengthens Texas’ power grid. Demand response is an innovative tool used by utilities to reward people who …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6408,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42996,38678,84830,181],"tags":[27592,54352],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-6774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-smart-power","category-demand-response","category-grid-modernization","category-texas","tag-ercot","tag-polar-vortex"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUPDATE: Demand Response Helped Texas Avoid Rolling Blackouts in the Face of Polar Vortex - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2014\/04\/10\/update-demand-response-helped-texas-avoid-rolling-blackouts-in-the-face-of-polar-vortex-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UPDATE: Demand Response Helped Texas Avoid Rolling Blackouts in the Face of Polar Vortex - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Good news for clean energy in Texas! 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