Automating Demand Response and DR Value in California’s Energy Future

Abstract: During the last 20 years demand response has been an important element of California's energy goals and policies. This talk will provide a brief history of those policies and technologies developed and implemented as part of the strategy. I will discuss automated demand response, how it works, and how it is used. I will also present the results of a recent study for the California Public Utilities Commission to evaluate the potential for DR over the next 10 years. The study found that there is plenty of peak capacity in California. However, there is a need to shift customer load to reduce hours of over generation of renewable energy. The study involved the development of supply curves for demand response and used a simplified production cost model to model the electricity markets. Demand response continued to be an important strategy to help California meets it energy goals to provide clean, affordable and reliable electricity.

Bio: Mary Ann Piette is a Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Director of the Building Technology and Urban Systems Division and Director of the Demand Response Research Center. She oversees LBNL's research for the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technology Office and she pursues research related to Smart Grid, demand response, energy efficiency, controls, commissioning, building operations, and urban energy. Her work includes partnering with cities, state government, electric utilities, control companies, building owners, state research programs, technology developers, and federal agencies. She led development of the Open Automated Demand Response standard, which is a key element of the NIST Smart Grid standards. She has authored over 170 papers on efficiency and demand response, and she is a member of numerous advisory boards and committees. Ms. Piette completed her undergraduate work at UC Berkeley in Physical Science. She has a Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley and a Licentiate in Building Services Engineering from the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.