Energy efficiency is an important piece of energy savings. Demand response is an initiative that you can add to existing efficiency measures to generate additional incentives and help reduce the risk of power outages for your community.
Specifically, demand response focuses on short, targeted shifts in energy usage that help utility companies avoid grid emergencies.
Yes! This is one of the primary benefits to RTP’s automation. Unlike providers that employ staffed network operation centers, the RTP server cluster decides when your load is needed for an event. If your load is not needed, the system can enroll your load into the next program automatically! Automation greatly increases the revenue that demand response can generate for you.
Nothing at all, except their normal work. The RTP Controller will interface directly to your building management system (BMS) or electrical loads and shift pre-defined load to off-times automatically, eliminating the need for store personnel to flip switches and breakers during event times.
The RTP GridLogic System™ is not a building automation system. Its purpose is to integrate the energy market into your existing BMS strategy. Your BMS should continue to control the amount of kWh’s you consume, maintain temperature set points, and reduce your total daily consumption. The RTP Controller will determine when you use energy and shift your load to lower cost times, not necessarily reduce your overall daily kWh usage as your BMS does. In addition to shifting consumption to lower cost hours, the RTP GridLogic System™ will ensure compliance with energy market rules to allow participation in demand response programs. Since high energy cost times and demand response events usually coincide, the RTP GridLogic System™ will provide cost avoidance, plus revenue generation from demand response, which today’s BMS does not.
Possibly. The RTP GridLogic System™ does a great job of power monitoring at the main meter. Power monitoring is necessary to participate in any demand response program. If you are currently buying a monitoring system for measuring the facility’s main power consumption, you could use the RTP GridLogic System™ for that purpose instead. However, if you are sub-metering individual site loads, the RTP GridLogic System™ would not replace that system. Although possible, the RTP GridLogic System™ is not designed to sub-meter multiple on-site loads.
Most of the time, your local distribution company (LDC) or local utility will supply a pulse output from the utility meter for a nominal charge. The RTP GridLogic System™ has a low voltage two wire input to measure the kWh pulse from the utility meter.
If your meter or LDC cannot provide this output, RTP Controls has revenue-grade metering devices that are approved and accepted for demand response programs.
We understand the challenges related to network security and provide a very strong IT support team to work with your IT group (ISD) to ensure our GridLogic System™ meets all their requirements. Our system architecture was designed by several ISD groups to meet the security requirements of large national companies. The GridLogic System™ employs many features designed specifically to meet your IT department’s challenges. To date, our system has not been denied access to any customer network.
The GridLogic System™ is available with CDMA wireless technology, allowing high speed communication over the same networks as your cellular phone or Blackberry®.