Electric Co-op Today

Four Indiana co-ops are preparing to take part in a load management pilot this summer and fall to help consumer-members reduce peak demand, lower electricity use during periods of peak pricing and improve system-wide reliability.

Larry Clements of Orange County REMC installs a water heater load control switch as part of a pilot project in Indiana. (Photo By: Wes McFarland)

The co-ops’ technology of choice will be load control switches installed on consumer-members’ water heaters and air conditioners.

The co-ops’ power supplier, Hoosier Energy, will control the equipment via one of three methods: radio frequencies, broadband Internet or power-line based systems using two-way automated meter information systems.

Co-ops participating in the program are Decatur County REMC, Greensburg; Harrison REMC, Corydon; Orange County REMC, Orleans; and, on a smaller scale, Johnson County REMC, Franklin.

Advance work has included a push to reach the goal, as set by Hoosier Energy, of 250 volunteers per co-op willing to test the switches in their homes. During the recruitment phase, officials said they have taken care to explain that the pilot’s intent is to lower peak demand, “and that your short-term electric bill won’t go down,” said Cathy Racicot, marketing and communications coordinator at Harrison REMC.

If peak demand is successfully controlled, “it will help us not to buy power on the open market and will reduce the need to build more power plants,” she said.

The educational effort is paying off. “People have a much better understanding of the importance of conservation and energy efficiency,” Racicot said.

Hoosier Energy is getting ready for the fall roll-out, too. It’s the first time the G&T has conducted a project of this scope, using existing technology to lower peak demand, said Wes McFarland, the G&T’s marketing services coordinator who is overseeing the pilot.

This summer, McFarland explained, operations personnel will test how well energy data will travel to and load switches in homes to substations and, lastly, to the G&T.

“The pilot program will help us figure out the best methods for communication, control strategies and measurement techniques so that we’re well-prepared when we initiate system-wide load control in 2010,” said McFarland.

Tags: Automated Meter Reading, Efficiency and Conservation, Load Management