DR Reserves - SpinningMand

The electricity conserved by a client is the same as the electricity generated by a power plant and has the same financial value in the energy market. If a client agrees to reduce their demand for electricity when called upon, less power will have to be generated to meet the demand. Reserves are the amount of load a client can eliminate or "curtail" when called upon to do so. Participation in reserves programs requires a company to provide a minimum of one megawatt of load reduction. Clients providing reserves have the choice of either a 10- or 30-minute response period to reduce or generate load depending upon program requirements. Reserves can be generated through the conservation of electricity usage that can be shifted to another time of day, such as charging equipment earlier or later than usual. Payments for reserves program participation can range from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the number of megawatts the client can curtail, the number of hours the client can participate and which program is selected.