Itron announced that it has renewed the contract with Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) to provide a fully outsourced and pay-for-performance demand response solution.
The service will help SMECO deliver reliable and lower rates for its customers, Itron said in a statement.
Itron has operated SMECO’s CoolSentry outsourced demand response program for nine years, deploying more than 45,000 load control devices for residential and small commercial customers. The load management solution was delivered as a pay-for-performance model.
The solution has helped the utility reduce its exposure to generation and transmission capacity charges in the wholesale market.
As a fully outsourced solution, Itron recruits customers into the program, installs the necessary load control equipment and operates the program using Itron’s IntelliSOURCE Enterprise cloud-based software. With its flexible and surgical control strategies, the solution increases reliability and help lower the costs of power transmission.
“We are looking forward to seeing the continued success of Itron’s demand response solution, which provides a cost-effective resource for grid reliability,” said Jeff Shaw, SMECO’s vice president of distributed energy and sustainability.
According to Shaw, Itron has helped the utility drive a 50 percent participation rate in the program for eligible residential customers, making it one of the highest percentages of participation for an opt-in demand response program in the United States.
“This collaboration is an example of the type of outcomes-based contract that is a win-win for utilities and their customers,” said Steve Hambric, Itron’s vice president of distributed energy management.
Rajani Baburajan