September 24, 2008—Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) recently announced the launch of its new PeakChoice demand response program, which allows business customers to customize their contribution to power reliability during times of high energy use. Demand response programs are designed to be both fiscally and environmentally responsible ways to respond to occasional and temporary spikes in energy demand, notes PG&E.
The PeakChoice program is designed to enable large businesses to participate in demand response in a way that allows them to conserve energy without significantly impacting business operations. During demand response events, when the state is expected to encounter high electric system demand, PeakChoice customers are notified and implement the energy savings protocols they have designed specifically for their business.
The program allows business customers to choose between two options when a demand response event is called: PeakChoice Committed and PeakChoice Best Effort. Customers then have many choices for customizing their demand response program options, and incentives vary based on those choices.
The PeakChoice season runs from May to October, during which PeakChoice Committed customers can receive monthly incentive payments. PeakChoice Best Effort participants earn incentives when dropping electric load during a declared PeakChoice event.
PG&E business customers can go online to learn more about the PeakChoice program options and notice and reduction choices, and to project their possible incentive payments.
