37th PLMA Conference Agenda

April 16-18, 2018 in Coronado, Calif.

37th PLMA Conference in Coronado, Calif.
Download the 37th Conference Program HERE Instructions On How to Download Our Conference App HERE
Monday, April 16, 2018
Optional Concurrent Pre-Conference Events (registration required)
PLMA Interest Group Meetings
8:00 am - 9:00 am

Shared Evolution Training & Interest Group Breakfast

9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Evolution of Demand Response to Distributed Energy Resources: Fundamentals and Path Forward
This one-day course explains how today's demand response initiatives are evolving to interact with an emerging future with distributed energy resources for peak load management and much more. The course content expands on the Evolution of Demand Response whitepaper.

Mark Martinez, Southern California Edison Co-Chair Mark Martinez
Southern California Edison
Christine Riker, Energy Solutions Co-Chair Christine Riker
Energy Solutions
See the Agenda and Learning Objectives HERE

Interest Group Activities
Join the PLMA Interest Groups for candid, interactive roundtables among practitioners from utilities, consultancies, and technology providers who are actively engaged in the load management industry. Don't miss the opportunity to learn from and share with your peers successes and challenges in these key areas of interest.

9:00 am

PLMA International Interest Group Meeting

Scott Coe, GridOptimize Co-Chair Scott Coe
GridOptimize
Ross Malme, EnergyHub Co-Chair Ross Malme
Skipping Stone

The PLMA International Interest Group has been initiated to bring together members who are interested in developing new activities for PLMA members from outside of North America and to connect with international energy companies and technology providers interested in the work of PLMA. The group, co-chaired by Scott Coe (GridOptimize) and Ross Malme (Skipping Stone), will be holding its first event focused on developing services to attract and benefit PLMA members around the world. During the session, attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the advantages and challenges of the different proposals for implementation, including a number which have already been brought to the group, including:

  • On-Site Overseas Workshops
  • Sister Utility Information Exchange
  • On-Line Collaboration Tools
  • International-Variant Training Courses
  • Service & Solution Opportunity “Clearing House”
  • Cross-Training
  • Policy-Maker Information/Education Sessions

Women in DM

Melissa Knous, Duke Energy Co-Chair Melissa Knous
Duke Energy
Erika Diamond, EnergyHub Co-Chair Erika Diamond
EnergyHub
Lenore Zeuthen, Zeuthen Management Solutions Co-Chair Lenore Zeuthen
Zeuthen Management Solutions
Who Should Attend? Women and men attending the conference are encouraged to join us for this dynamic conversation.
  • Women – Gain knowledge and perspective on how to develop and further your career in DSM — an industry in which we still see few women in leadership positions. Enhance your network by getting to know other women in the field.
  • Men – Increase your understanding of the issues women face in our industry to: improve your team’s development and synergy, enhance your recruiting and management approach, and learn how to leverage the benefits of greater organizational diversity.
9:00 am

Industry and Career Deep Dive
Erica and Sarah will discuss their career paths and how they came to their current professional positions, where they see the industry going, and the opportunities they see for both companies and employees, followed by a question and answer session. This session is not for women only, but anyone interested in advancing their career in energy management.

Erica Keating, Southern California Edison Erica Keating
Southern California Edison
Sarah Colvin, ecobee Sarah Colvin
ecobee
10:00 am

Mentoring Pilot Report Out
Mentors and Mentees will provide feedback on their experiences to date and we will discussion considerations for a full program launch.

10:30 am

Get to Know the Women in DM
We’ll play a light icebreaker game to facilitate networking, which we encourage you to continue throughout the conference.

Learn more about the Women in DM interest group
11:00 am - 12 noon

Shared Evolution Training & Interest Group Lunch

12 noon

DER Integration Part 1

Rich Barone, Hawaiian Electric Company Co-Chair Rich Barone
Hawaiian Electric Company
John Powers, Extensible Energy Co-Chair John Powers
Extensible Energy
12 noon

Hot, Cold, and Shocking: What Leading Storage Options Can And Cannot Do
Water heaters, ice storage, and commercial-scale batteries are all part of this panel discussion, moderated by John Powers, Extensible Energy

Adapting storage technologies to deliver both customer and grid value requires careful consideration of the entire time domain at scales from milliseconds to days. We'll talk with leading providers of diverse storage solutions to explore options for a variety of customer and grid applications.

Amrit Robbins, Axiom Exergy Amrit Robbins
Axiom Exergy
Laurie Vaudreuil, Mosaic PowerLaurie Vaudreuil
Mosaic Power
Zach Einterz, StemZach Einterz
Stem
1:00 pm

Portland General Electric: Flexible Load and DER Development

The team implementing PGE's innovative DER portfolio optimization project will discuss program design, technology considerations, and program implementation issues.

Coreen Henry, Portland General Electric Coreen Henry
Portland General Electric
Graham Horn, Enbala Graham Horn
Enbala
Nick Bengtson, CLEAResult Nick Bengtson
CLEAResult
1:30 pm

Hi Honey, I'm (Smart) Home… but You Already Knew That, Didn't You?

The potential for connected devices to become grid assets goes beyond smart thermostats. Ms. Wang will look at several utility case studies and discuss aspects of integrating connected devices into grid operations.

  • Vendor landscape: Vendors offering hardware and software solutions are divided into various categories. Software wise, the presentation examines different use cases: real time energy consumption information, load disaggregation, appliance health monitoring, demand response load dispatch, predicative analytics involving machine learning, etc.
  • Partnerships: Vendors with complementary capabilities and shared targeted customers frequently form partnerships. The presentation also categorizes different types of partnerships in the connected home space over the last two to three years.
  • Utility case studies: Beyond traditional demand response programs with smart thermostats, some utilities have been experimenting with incorporating additional residential distributed energy resources. The presentation highlights notable recent examples of using connected devices to optimize demand side management.
Fei Wang, GTM Research Fei Wang
GTM Research

Thermostat

Justin Chamberlain, CPS Energy Co-Chair Justin Chamberlain
CPS Energy
Olivia Patterson, Opinion Dynamics Co-Chair Olivia Patterson
Opinion Dynamics
12 noon

Kick-off and White Paper
Moderators: Olivia Patterson, Opinion Dynamics and Justin Chamberlain, CPS Energy

12:10 pm

Smart Thermostats in BGE's Smart Energy Rewards
Amanda will be discussing Baltimore Gas and Electric's Smart Energy Rewards program and the evolution of their program from a paging based system to a dynamic Wi-Fi based thermostat program.

Amanda Janaskie, Baltimore Gas & Electric Amanda Janaskie
Baltimore Gas & Electric
12:55 pm

ULME Partnership Discussion: Thermostat Programs – Lessons from the Trenches
Moderator: Olivia Patterson, Opinion Dynamics

Discussion on the lessons learned from Utilities that are running thermostat programs. The practitioners will be answering:

  • What was the genesis of your Thermostat program?
  • What are the drivers behind your thermostat programs? EE vs DR
  • What are your highlights?
  • What would you change/What keeps you up at night?
  • How do see your program evolving over the next 5 years?
David Kaintz, Southern California Edison David Kaintz
Southern California Edison
Mike Smith, National Grid Mike Smith
National Grid
Jeremy Morrison, Duke Energy Jeremy Morrison
Duke Energy
Brian Doyle, Xcel Energy Brian Doyle
Xcel Energy
Justin Chamberlain, CPS Energy Justin Chamberlain
CPS Energy
1:40 pm

EPRI: Persistent Wi-Fi Project
Learn how EPRI is seeking to help solve the challenge of Wi-Fi thermostats going offline.

Christine Hertzog, EPRI Christine Hertzog
EPRI
1:50 pm

Wrap up and Introduction to 37th PLMA Conference

Learn more about the Thermostat interest group
2:00 pm

Shared Evolution Training & Interest Group Refreshment Break

2:30 pm

DER Integration Part 2

2:30 pm

Update on Federal DER and Storage Developments

Mr. Shparber, formerly in-house counsel at PJM Interconnection, will discuss recent Federal regulatory initiatives including FERC rulemaking around storage and distributed energy resources. This topic is particularly timely in the wake of FERC Order 841, issued in February 2018, and FERC's upcoming technical conference on DER aggregation.

Steven Shparber, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough Steven Shparber
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
3:00 pm

Thermal Climb: Increasing Role of Electric Water Heaters
Moderator: Rich Barone, Hawaiian Electric Company

Two (2) grid interactive water heater vendors along with one of their utility partners, will be led through a panel discussion across several key topics. Topics could include:

  • The possible use cases for Grid Interactive Waters Heaters – and living examples
  • Best market opportunities and what drives them
  • New frontiers: Distribution/locational support – targeted GIWH
Austin Chambers, Itron Austin Chambers
Itron
Mitch Vanden Langenberg, Dairyland Power Cooperative Mitch Vanden Langenberg
Dairyland Power Cooperative
Matt Carlson, Aquanta Matt Carlson
Aquanta
Melissa Knous, Duke Energy Melissa Knous
Duke Energy
4:00 pm

Through the Looking Glass
Moderators: John Powers, Extensible Energy and Rich Barone, Hawaiian Electric Company

Open discussion/brainstorm on what the group should focus on for remainder of 2018.

Learn more about the DER Integration interest group

Customer Engagement

Meridith Nierenberg, Orange and Rockland Co-Chair Meridith Nierenberg
Orange and Rockland Utilities
Andrea Simmonsen, Idaho Power Co-Chair Andrea Simmonsen
Idaho Power Company
Sharyn Barata, Opinion Dynamics Co-Chair Sharyn Barata
Opinion Dynamics
2:30 pm

Customer Engagement Interest Group Welcome by Co-Chairs
Presented by Customer Engagement Co-Chairs

2:35 pm

Expert Panel – It's a Customer Journey, Not a kW Destination
The customer journey represents the sum of experiences a participant will have with your company and brand. It's about far more than the individual transactions (think typical utility program silos!) and requires shared value and ongoing innovation to be sustainable. Join our expert panel as we discuss approaches to designing comprehensive programs centered around the customer journey.

Keisha from BGE will discuss employing feedback from their DR focus group; Brian from ComEd will bring experience from a customer-centric rate design program; and Keith will round out this panel sharing examples of integrating thermostat data with customer feedback loops to continuously improve on program design.

Moderator: Sarah Colvin, ecobee Moderator
Sarah Colvin

ecobee
Keisha Clarke-English, Baltimore Gas & Electric Keisha Clarke-English
Baltimore Gas & Electric
Brian Kirchman, ComEd Brian Kirchman
ComEd
Keith Canfield, CLEAResult Keith Canfield
CLEAResult
3:35 pm

Breakout Sessions
Join your fellow utilities and vendors to discuss, brainstorm, and share challenges and best practices in this small group format. The following small group discussions will be facilitated:

  • Utilizing the Digital Customer Experience for Demand Response Programs Facilitated by Meridith Nierenberg, Orange & Rockland Utilities
  • Enhancing the Customer Journey Facilitated by Andrea Simmonsen, Idaho Power
  • How to Measure the Success of your Customer Engagement Strategies (EM&V) Facilitated by Sharyn Barata, Opinion Dynamics
4:20 pm

Wrap up and Introduction to 37th PLMA Conference
Presented by Customer Engagement Co-Chairs

Learn more about the Customer Engagement interest group
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm

PLMA Interest Group Meetup on the Thomas Lawn
All interest group and training registrants are welcome to attend to network and learn how to make the most of the Conference activities.

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Board of Directors Meeting
Business meeting with working dinner only for Board members and At-Large Representatives listed at www.peakload.org/Leadership only.

8:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Welcome Reception
Join your fellow PLMA members for great networking and refreshing drinks beachside at the Hotel del Coronado's Paseo North lawn. Open to all conference attendees at no additional fee, compliments of PLMA members. Not a member? Join us anyway and see what you're missing.

Wi-Fi Host: EnergyHub • Electric Power Ally Host: Landis+Gyr

Tuesday, April 17, 2018
7:00 am - 8:00 am

Breakfast Buffet in Sponsor Lounge

 

Morning General Session 1

Andrea Simmonsen, Idaho Power Co-Chair Andrea Simmonsen
Idaho Power Company
Joseph Childs, Eaton Co-Chair Joseph Childs
Eaton
8:00 am Michael Brown

Opening Remarks
PLMA Chair Michael Brown, Berkshire Hathaway, NV Energy

8:30 am

Welcoming Remarks
Lisa Davidson, San Diego Gas & Electric Lisa Davidson, Director of Customer Programs & Assistance, San Diego Gas & Electric
Lisa Davidson is the Director of Customer Programs for San Diego Gas & Electric and is responsible for overseeing SDG&E's energy efficiency, customer assistance and demand response programs. Lisa joined Sempra Energy in 2001 and has held positions in Regulatory Affairs, Finance, Investor Relations, External Affairs and Customer Services at Sempra and SDG&E.

Randy McWilliams, San Diego Gas & Electric

Randy McWilliams, Senior Director, Facilities Services and Engineering, San Diego Padres
Randy will provide an overview of the Padres' Energy Efficiency, Demand Response and Solar projects at Petco Park that were completed in 2017. The Padres are now in the process of installing the largest solar installation in major league baseball.

9:00 am

Western Utility Perspectives of Demand Response, DER, Load Growth, and More
Discover how utilities in California and other Western States, as well as Hawaii, are repurposing traditional demand response initiatives to meet an emerging technological future through dynamic retail pricing, distributed energy resources, and beneficial load growth goals for peak load management, renewable integration, grid resiliency, and much more.

Mark Martinez, Southern California Edison Moderator
Mark Martinez

Southern California Edison
Kent Walter, Arizona Public Service Kent Walter
Arizona Public Service
Fabienne Arnoud, Pacific Gas & Electric Fabienne Arnoud
Pacific Gas & Electric
Brad Mantz, San Diego Gas & Electric Brad Mantz
San Diego Gas & Electric
Richard Barone, Hawaiian Electric Richard Barone
Hawaiian Electric
Darren Hanway, SoCal Gas Darren Hanway
SoCal Gas
10:00 am

Leveraging Legacy Technology Platforms for the New DER World
Learn how utilities are leveraging legacy technology platforms to address new requirements for DER integration, dynamic pricing, and more. Emphasis will be given to the challenges of smaller utilities. Strategies to ensure a smooth migration from legacy to modern technology platforms will also be discussed. Presenters will discuss how AMI and DA systems augment legacy DR and improve its functionality. The session will provide audience members with creative ways that existing resources can be enhanced to support utility business objectives.

Moderator: Richard Philip, Duke Energy Moderator
Richard Philip

Duke Energy
Wayne Callender, CPS Energy Wayne Callender
CPS Energy
Mitch Vanden Langenberg, Dairyland Power Cooperative Mitch Vanden Langenberg
Dairyland Power Cooperative
Derek Kirchner, DTE Energy Derek Kirchner
DTE Energy
10:30 am - 11:00 am

Refreshment Break in Sponsor Lounge

 

Morning General Session 2

Meridith Nierenberg, Orange and Rockland Utilities Co-Chair Meridith Nierenberg
Orange and Rockland Utilities
Jason Cigarran, Itron Co-Chair Jason Cigarran
Itron
11:00 am

Thermostats and Beyond: Measuring Residential Savings Potential and Measuring Results at National Grid
Discover how National Grid relies exclusively on thermostat telemetry instead of interval meter data to determine cooling runtimes to estimate A/C unit power draw used for load impact modeling. Beyond BYOT thermostats, there is a potentially large untapped resource of other residential end-uses (e.g., washers, dryers, dishwashers, home EV charging systems etc.), which could now be cost-effective via the latest generation of built-in wireless controls and smart plugs/switches. Learn how National Grid conducted analyses of potential demand savings for various end-uses and enablement strategies.

Paul Wassink, National Grid Paul Wassink
National Grid
Nicole Buccitelli, Navigant Nicole Buccitelli
Navigant
Poornima Eber, National Grid Poornima Eber
National Grid
Kathleen Ward, Navigant Kathleen Ward
Navigant
11:30 am

Winter Demand Response Strategies for Electric and Gas Utilities
Learn how both gas and electric utilities are taking approaches used in summer DR programs and applying them to winter initiatives. SoCal Gas rolled out one of the first natural gas DR programs in the US when it faced winter constraints on its natural gas supply. The program helps save therms by making small tweaks to customers' thermostat schedules and setpoints to create greater resource flexibility for natural gas service. Midstate Electric uses DR in winter to address a large penetration of electric furnaces and heat pumps.

Moderator: Tyler Rogers, EnergyHub Moderator
Tyler Rogers

EnergyHub

Andrew Nih, SoCal GasAndrew Nih
SoCal Gas

Joe Hull, Midstate Electric Cooperative Joe Hull
Midstate Electric Cooperative

12 noon - 1:30 pm

Lunch Buffet in Sponsor Lounge

 

Afternoon General Session 1

Paul Wassink, National GridCo-Chair Paul Wassink
National Grid
Dennis Quinn, Joule Assets Co-Chair Dennis Quinn
Joule Smart Solutions
1:30 pm Dain Nestel, ecobee

PLMA Awards Program
Dain Nestel, ecobee

The 15th PLMA Awards Program will recognize energy industry leaders for the best peak load and demand response management initiatives from calendar year 2017. Nominations are being accepted until March 5 at www.peakload.org/awards. Over the past 14 years, PLMA has presented over 65 awards to recipients who have included utilities, product and service providers, consumers, and individuals responsible for demand response efforts targeted to the residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customer markets.

2:00 pm

Emerging DER Markets: System Truths and Consequences
What do you get when you couple traditional demand response services with renewable energy and storage in California, Central America and Japan? Gain insight into the cost and complexity of implementing DERs at customer sites today and the implications for how future U.S. and global electricity networks could be properly modeled and controlled as well as how the future electricity markets could be activated. This panel examines how DER practitioners are partnering and industry standards are expanding to accommodate DERs and what this might mean to a utility planning for DER deployments. Discover new DER market opportunities underway, and DER potential in terms of nationwide capacity and grid service markets via FERC.

Moderator: Michael Brown, Berkshire Hathaway NV Energy Moderator
Michael Brown

Berkshire Hathaway, NV Energy
Toshiro Takebe, Tokyo Electric Power Holdings Toshiro Takebe
Tokyo Electric Power Holdings
Michael Robinson, MISOMichael Robinson
MISO
Scott Coe, GridOptimize Scott Coe
GridOptimize
Brian Asparro, Demand Energy via EnerNOC Brian Asparro
Demand Energy via EnerNOC
Zach Einterz, StemZach Einterz
Stem
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Refreshment Break in Sponsor Lounge

 

Afternoon General Session 2

John Powers, Extensible Energy Co-Chair John Powers
Extensible Energy
Marissa Hummon, Tendril Co-Chair Marissa Hummon
Tendril
3:30 pm

Research and Evaluation in the World of Distributed Energy Resources
Gain insight from utility and evaluator perspectives related to opportunities and challenges associated with initiating PSEG Long Island's Super Saver program as part of the New York Reforming the Energy Vision strategy, to provide enhanced energy efficiency, demand response and time-of-use pricing to 10,500 customers within a capacity-constrained substation.

Dimple Gandhi, PSEG - Long Island Dimple Gandhi
PSEG-Long Island
Olivia Patterson, Opinion Dynamics Olivia Patterson
Opinion Dynamics
4:00 pm

Demand Response Emerging Technology Roadmap (all sectors)
Navigant and Lawrence Berkeley National Labs helped develop a DR emerging technology roadmap for SCE that outlines a path forward for implementing advanced enabling technologies that could provide “shift” and “shimmy” services, as identified in the California DR potential study. The roadmap includes using electric vehicles and behind-the-meter storage for DR, along with advancements in conventional end-uses such as HVAC and lighting. It also includes transactive energy, which could transform energy procurement and retail markets.

Greg Wikler, Navigant Greg Wikler
Navigant
4:30 pm

Sponsor Showcase Lightning Round
In this 30 minute session you will hear from several of our sponsors about the essence of their solutions. Our Co-chairs have vetted the presentations and helped the sponsors get their key messages compressed down to 3 minutes. Sponsors will offer specific examples of how they provide value.

Paul Miles, PECO Co-Moderator: Paul Miles
PECO
Rich Philip, Duke Energy Co-Moderator: Rich Philip
Duke Energy

Showcase Presenters:

Shane O'Quinn, AutoGrid Shane O'Quinn
AutoGrid
Joseph Childs, Eaton Joseph Childs
Eaton
Peter Black, ecobee Peter Black
ecobee
Tiffany McCann, EFITiffany McCann
EFI
Brad Rittler, Encycle Brad Rittler
Encycle
Amanda Sahl, Google (Nest) Amanda Sahl
Google (Nest)
Jason Cigarran, Itron Jason Cigarran
Itron
MessageBroadcast Bill Joiner
Message Broadcast
OpenADR Alliance Rolf Bienert
OpenADR Alliance
Eric Martin, Tendril Eric Martin
Tendril

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Networking Reception in Sponsor Lounge
A key value to PLMA events is the opportunity to network with conference participants. Join us for a cocktails and appetizers. Come and share what you learned and get additional details about your topics of interest.

Wi-Fi Host: EnergyHub • Electric Power Ally Host: Landis+Gyr

Wednesday, April 18, 2018
7:00 am - 8:00 pm

Breakfast Buffet in Sponsor Lounge

Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Track A – Commercial Applications

Melissa Knous, Duke Energy Co-Chair Melissa Knous
Duke Energy
Jenny Roehm, Schneider Electric Co-Chair Jenny Roehm
Schneider Electric
8:00 am

EV Load Shifting and Demand Response at SCE (workplace charging)
SCE's Charge Ready Pilot Program supports California's zero-emission vision by deploying infrastructure to support customer owned and operated charging stations at certain locations where cars may be parked for four hours or more. By early 2018, 1,000 charging stations will be installed and participating in a load shifting and DR pilot to determine effective load management strategies. EVs' flexible load can provide grid benefits by shifting energy usage or curtailing demand to avoid peak periods. This presentation will provide an overview and lessons learned from the Charge Ready DR Pilot.

Carl Besaw, Southern California Edison Carl Besaw
Southern California Edison
8:30 am

Think Global, Act Local: Engaging SMEs with Demand Response Solutions
California energy management and clean energy policies seek to drive engagement of small and medium businesses (SMBs) to manage their buildings' electricity use more efficiently and sustainably. Levers include dynamic pricing, rebates, incentives and demand response programs. Utility and third-party programs can deliver economic value to participating SMBs by integrating these programs, along with energy savings and improved grid resources. Despite the advances in recent years, some barriers remain. For e.g., integrated solutions are beyond the technical expertise of most SMBs. PG&E's Managed Energy Program Pilot helps overcome some barriers by analyzing businesses' electric usage, identifying potential savings, and collaborating long-term to monitor and improve performance. The Pilot leverages trusted local resources to connect with SMBs and help them deliver on their sustainability goals. We will share lessons learnt in this effort and other examples of engagement with the SMB sector.

Maria Fields, JouleSmart Maria Fields
JouleSmart
Cary Garcia, Local Government Commission Cary Garcia
Local Government Commission
9:00 am

Going with the Flow — Water Resources for Fast Acting Capacity
In preparation of the shutdown of the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar (HC&S) operations announced in January of 2016, Maui Electric Company, Ltd. developed a contingency plan to meet electrical demand on the island of Maui after the power purchase agreement terminated. Fast acting (ten minute) demand response was identified as one of the measures to mitigate the expected reserve capacity shortfall. This presentation will highlight the background of the project, and specifically highlight one of the customers, the municipal water company, that was approached as one of the first customers to help. Utilities will gain best practices and lessons learned for similar project implementations.

Richard Barone, Hawaiian Electric Richard Barone
Hawaiian Electric
Yvette Maskrey, Honeywell Smart Energy Yvette Maskrey
Honeywell Smart Energy
 

Track B – Residential Applications

Justin Chamberlain, CPS Energy Co-Chair Justin Chamberlain
CPS Energy
Chris Ashley, EnergyHub Co-Chair Chris Ashley
EnergyHub
8:00 am

Thermal Load-Shifting Strategies and Program Considerations For Electrically Heated Homes
Located on the East coast of Canada, NB Power with Siemens Canada and National Research Council of Canada partnered to conduct a series of experimental studies to evaluate the peak reduction potential from direct load control in residential homes using electric resistance heating. The research spans 3 years culminating with a 600 home pilot which quantified the opportunity and identified the strategies for using the thermal storage capacity of homes to reduce peak.

Ted Leopkey, NB Power Ted Leopkey
NB Power
Ajit Pardasani, National Research Council Canada Ajit Pardasani
National Research Council Canada
Giles Counsell, Siemens Canada Giles Counsell
Siemens Canada
8:30 am

Combining Demand Response and Energy Efficiency to Drive Increased Customer Value
With sleek user interfaces, advanced messaging capability, and the potential to deliver significant energy savings, smart thermostats have disrupted traditional DSM program designs. As consumer interest rises, utilities have been faced with a new dilemma…Embrace the smart thermostat into energy efficiency programs? By doing so, the energy efficiency teams may inadvertently cannibalize other initiatives such as legacy load control programs. Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) embraced this challenge in late 2016 by coordinating their Award-Winning Smart Energy Savers and PeakRewards Programs for a direct install pilot. This case study describes the integration of BGE's Quick Home Energy Checkup (QHEC) to include a smart thermostat offering and enrollment into BGE's PeakRewards Demand Response Program.

Amanda Janaskie, Baltimore Gas & Electric Amanda Janaskie
Baltimore Gas & Electric
Amey Bayes, Baltimore Gas & Electric Amey Bayes
Baltimore Gas & Electric

John White, ICFJohn White ICF

 

9:00 am

Delighting SDG&E Customers with Instant Rebates at Big Box Retailers
Over Black Friday 2017, SDG&E was the first utility in the U.S. to offer a validated instant rebate for smart thermostats at brick-and-mortar stores in its service territory. In partnership with Lowe's, CLEAResult, and Nest, SDG&E customers were able to instantly validate their account credentials through a simple tool on their smartphones, which then generated a secure barcode that could be used at check out to apply the discount. When combined with a robust marketing campaign, the validated instant rebate drove more SDG&E customers to buy smart thermostats like Nest in its first week than the existing mail-in rebate did the whole year. The instant rebate at retail was also a significant sales driver at Lowe's stores. This session will provide a case study of SDG&E's integrated campaign, including recommendations, best practices for other utilities to replicate their success with validated instant rebates across retailers and a seamless customer journey.

Yeye Zhang, Nest Yeye Zhang
Nest
Shoshana Pena, San Diego Gas & Electric Shoshana Pena
San Diego Gas & Electric
Nick Schuder, CLEAResult Nick Schuder
CLEAResult
9:30 am - 10:00 am

Refreshment Break in Sponsor Lounge

Track A – Customer Engagement

Amy Bryan, Jackson EMCCo-Chair Amy Bryan
Jackson EMC

Kitty Wang, Energy Solutions Co-Chair Kitty Wang
Energy Solutions
10:00 am

Customer Motivators: Demonstrating the Value of Smart Meters with Peak Time Rewards
In this session, you will learn how a large NY utility is: Demonstrating the value of their smart meter rollout while simultaneously increasing customer satisfaction and engagement; providing monetary incentives to customers without altering their billing system; empowering customers with tools and information to manage their own energy usage. Join us to hear how National Grid developed a comprehensive and unique approach to engage customers after a smart meter rollout and preempted customer backlash by demonstrating the value of AMI data.

Fouad Dagher, National Grid Fouad Dagher
National Grid
Caitlin Hewlitt, Oracle Utilities Caitlin Hewlitt
Oracle Utilities
10:30 am

The Surprising Benefits of Integrating a DR CRM Solution into Residential DR Programs
KCP&L launched its first DR program in 2005 and learning over the following 10 years, compiled a list of crucial requirements. With Customer Engagement on top of the list, the challenge was developing a comprehensive program(DI, DIY, BYO) that could quickly and cost-effectively scale. KCP&L was interested in utilizing software solutions to address common barriers – customer enrollment, account validation, device deployment and tracking, and DIY service requests that converted to DI. With the unprecedented success of the program (28,000 devices in 2017), this presentation will explore the benefits of an integrated, best of breed DR CRM that increased participation, savings, customer satisfaction, and connected devices that will provide utility DR benefits for many years – all at reduced and predictable costs.

Elena Hill, KCP&L Elena Hill
KCP&L
Jubin Kothari, Energy Datametrics Jubin Kothari
Energy Datametrics
Barry Ledford, CLEAResult Barry Ledford
CLEAResult
11:00 am

Effects of Behavioral Spillover in PG&E's 2017 SmartRateTM Program
Rate-based demand response (DR) programs, such as PG&E's SmartRateTM program, provoke distinct challenges related to developing appropriate baselines for load impact estimates. The time-dependent electricity rates of the SmartRateTM program may lead customers to shift their electricity use to non-peak hours regardless of whether an event is in effect. These "spillover" effects can lead to biased estimates of baseline usage, which in turn affect evaluations of program impacts, cost-effectiveness, and future electricity usage forecasts. In our evaluation of PG&E's SmartRateTM program in 2017, we examine the extent of this programmatic spillover and use our findings to address the challenge of adjusting the baseline accurately to estimate load impacts.

Christine Hartmann, Pacific Gas & Electric Christine Hartmann
Pacific Gas & Electric
Aaiysha Khursheed, Opinion Dynamics Aaiysha Khursheed
Opinion Dynamics
 

Track B – Business Use Cases

Brian Doyle, Xcel Energy Co-Chair Brian Doyle
Xcel Energy
Phil Austen, ICF Co-Chair Phil Austen
ICF
10:00 am

Small Business Demand Response Energy Efficiency Program Case Study
The presentation will provide a review of Duke Energy's small business EE and DR program being operated in 3 Midwest and 2 Southeast states. The review will include an overview with the results of the first two years of operations, customer engagement and education, lessons learned and improvement opportunities. The presentation will include actual examples of customer interactions and equipment operation along with some initial EM&V results.

Jeremy Morrison, Duke Energy Jeremy Morrison
Duke Energy
10:30 am

Data Analytics for Optimizing Demand Response: Lessons Learned
Data Analytics can make the difference between success and failure for Demand Response programs. Gerardo Galdamez and Terry Rohrer will share insights gained from agricultural and smart thermostats programs, including how data analytics are used to measure and optimize all aspects of these critical programs, including recruitment, yield, ISO filings, auditing, and energy efficiency.

Gerardo Galdamez, Entergy Gerardo Galdamez
Entergy
Terry Rohrer, Connected Energy Terry Rohrer
Connected Energy
11:00 am

Innovation in Integration of Demand Response and Energy Efficiency
Presentation and discussion of a unique and innovative approach to deeply integrating demand response and energy efficiency. This program (Energy Savings Purchase Agreement), provides real-time energy management, installed equipment and behavioral approaches as a service to the customer. Demand response is optimized through third party facility energy management and integration with the utility through alignment of incentives among the customer, building manger and the utility. Also, through providing energy management with no incremental bill impact to the customer, it overcomes traditional barriers to customer participation and adoption. Finally, as this approach creates value streams to the utility for both capacity and energy savings, it is more cost effective to the utility than traditional approaches.

George Pohndorf, Snohomish County PUDGeorge Pohndorf
Snohomish County PUD
11:30 am - 1:00 pm

Lunch Buffet in Sponsor Lounge

 

Closing General Session

Lynn Stein, E Source Co-Chair Lynn Stein
E Source
Benn Messer, Research Into Action Co-Chair Benn Messer
Research Into Action
1:00 pm

Forward-Looking Research Panel
The research is done, but what does that mean for you? This forward-looking panel will allow you to hear from the experts how the changing DR landscape, including markets, technology, and behavior are likely to impact programs and the industry.

  • Wholesale markets changing (e.g., availability of capacity, resource procurement) are not a setback for DR, but there are implications from a changing resource mix in wholesale markets alongside the landscape of third parties and their respective market shares.
  • Utilities are approaching advanced DR applications with a variety of purposes and methods for calling on changes in load, and how existing DR is being leveraged.
  • The new energy economy is more decentralized and personalized than ever before; how can stakeholders help consumers navigate the scope and functionality of energy marketplaces, energy management tools, rewards programs and menus of optional products and services.
  • The potential for connected devices to become grid assets is not limited to smart thermostats, but now include connected home appliances, and more recently voice-control devices. Data collected by smart devices, analytics enabled by software solutions providers, and direct load control capabilities by utilities can further optimize demand side management.
Elta Kolo, GTM ResearchElta Kolo
GTM Research
Brenda Chew, SEPA Brenda Chew
SEPA
Bridget Meckley, Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative Bridget Meckley
Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative
Erin Erben, EPRI Erin Erben
EPRI
2:00 pm Derek Kirchner, DTE Energy

Closing Remarks and Welcome to Austin
Derek Kirchner, DTE Energy

2:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Ice Cream Social with Utility Load Management Exchange


Utility Load Management Exchange Activities

The Utility Load Management Exchange (formerly the Advanced Load Control Alliance) mission is to promote load control as a viable option for utility deployments in demand reduction, economic dispatch, and/or T&D reliability through a forum for utility staff members to share information on program design, marketing, vendor management, benefit-costs and technology deployments. Learn more about ULME

View the detailed ULME Spring 2018 Agenda

Tuesday, April 17, 2018
7:00 - 8:00 am

ULME Pre-Meeting Breakfast at PLMA
Grab you breakfast in the PLMA Sponsor Lounge, then join us for a quick meet and greet before the conference gets underway.


Wednesday, April 18, 2018, 3:00 - 5:00 pm and
Thursday, April 19, 2018, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
(Open to Utility Representatives Only, Registration Required)

Wednesday, April 18

3:00 - 5:00 pm

Utility Load Management Exchange Spring 2018 Meeting

6:00 - 8:00 pm

Utility Load Management Exchange Spring 2018 Meeting Networking Dinner

Thursday, April 17

8:00 am - 4:00 pm

Utility Load Management Exchange Spring 2018 Meeting (includes breakfast and lunch)