The West Is on Fire: We Need To Adopt More Demand Flexibility Strategies

In 2020, we started this article with “Across the western United States, wildfires are raging,” which remains true today. In the summer of 2020, five million acres—a bleak record at the time—had burned even before reaching the traditional height of the fall fire season. Cal Fire said more than 17,400 firefighters were battling 26 major wildfires in the Golden State. Utilities were forced to use rolling blackouts to shut down transmission to residents and businesses as last-ditch fire prevention tools with significant personal and economic consequences, a real-world challenge that demand flexibility can solve.

Demand Flexibility & Innovations

California has a well-deserved reputation as an innovator in renewables, energy storage, and distributed energy resources (DERs). But, while the state’s climate-friendly advances—plus thousands of megawatts reduced through voluntary conservation by residents and businesses—helped reduce the load, it hasn’t been enough to prevent these drastic measures.

For example, in August 2020 the U.S. Department of Energy had to issue an order to power up to three natural gas plants so that the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) could meet the “exceptional levels of electricity demand” sparked by the intense heat wave and resulting lightning and wildfires. With the order, CAISO also requested a relaxation of environmental and air quality permit standards for the plants.

We can, and must, do better for our people and our planet. Flexible energy strategies including demand flexibility programs and distributed energy resource (DER) initiatives are crucial to the future of grid stability and are designed to lower carbon emissions while enhancing potential revenue streams. As such, these programs offer both an opportunity to meet needs, while simultaneously supporting the decarbonization and electrification efforts needed to mitigate the damaging effects of climate change: including wildfires. 

Off-Peak Load Management

In a 2019 Vox article, David Roberts noted that just by using energy at different times of the day, we could shave 15% off-peak electricity needs by 2030, saving billions of dollars.

“Lots of power consumption is not time-sensitive. The iconic case here is your home water heater. Water retains thermal energy pretty well. You can heat the water in the tank at any time and still have hot water available when you want,” he wrote continuing, “So in theory, water-heating energy consumption can be time-shifted, from times of high demand to times of low demand, without any loss of service.

Many power-intensive industrial processes are largely automated, so they can, in theory, be run at any time. Electric vehicles can be charged at different times of the day. Through the use of distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS), utilities can aggregate the distributed energy resources (DERs) like solar, battery, electric vehicles and EVSE, and smart home devices like thermostats and water heaters in their area to shift load through one of several demand flexibility programs to off-peak hours of usage.

Load shifting is useful during emergencies like wildfires, as it affords an alternative path for utilities to meet energy demand without the need for upfront infrastructure upgrades. Especially considering the damage caused by wildfires, finding a quick and effective solution to load management in affected areas is critical to meeting demand when it’s needed the most.

Challenges to Demand Flexibility

Historically, demand flexibility programs, specifically demand response, were enabled through the use of physical devices attached to customer behind-the-meter assets. But as more devices feature Wifi and more homes support broadband internet, it has become easier to manage these assets in aggregate to meet demand. 

Demand Flexibility Strategies Conclusion

To meet global decarbonization goals designed to mitigate climate change, utilities must adopt demand flexibility strategies. If our industry adopts aggressive steps to increase load flexibility, we can meet consumer demand and help mitigate the effects of climate change that have led to the increasingly widespread devastation from wildfires in the years to come.

To all our friends out west or anywhere affected by wildfires and climate change: stay safe.

This article was originally published on September 17, 2020 with updates made on July 19, 2024. These wildfires rage on.

About The Author

Jeff is the VP of Sales for Virtual Peaker. He has spent his entire career in energy and data analytics where he has led teams working with utilities, government agencies, oil and gas companies, and financial institutions to help drive growth strategy and manage energy transition. He has worked with a team of analysts in developing an integrated resource plan (IRP) for a major U.S. vertically integrated utility, with a focus on load forecasting, locational marginal pricing (LMP) prediction, and long-term grid reliability. He has also managed the development of marketing and growth strategy for one of the four largest global oil and gas firms with a focus on the long-term viability of the Asian market-entry strategy.

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