Demand Response (DR) provides electricity customers an opportunity to receive payments for curtailing their energy use during periods of peak demand. The PJM regional transmission organization (RTO), which coordinates wholesale energy markets for 13 states in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, relies heavily on DR to help meet capacity needs.
On March 10, PJM released its most recent Demand Response Monthly Activity Report. The report provides data on nearly 3,000 DR locations representing over 9,000 MW of capacity throughout the region. Customers received about $110 million in DR capacity payments through the first two months of the year. These payments are simply to ensure that the customers can ramp down their demand when needed; only a small fraction of the capacity as actually dispatched. About half of this capacity comes from industrial or manufacturing sites; 16 percent comes from residential sites; the remainder comes from commercial, institutional, and other industries.
PJM provides a directory of Curtailment Service Providers for regional customers seeking to participate in DR programs. More information on DR markets and programs in PJM can be found on the RTO’s Demand Response website.
