August 8, 2007 — Echelon Corporation, a leading provider of networking technology that is used to manage and reduce energy consumption, has announced that EnerNOC, Inc. is using Echelon’s technology to help business customers manage energy use and control energy costs during times of peak electricity demand. EnerNOC is a leading developer and provider of clean and intelligent power solutions to commercial, institutional, and industrial customers, as well as electric power grid operators and utilities.
Significant imbalances between electricity supply and demand can destabilize the grid or cause severe voltage fluctuations and failures. Demand response, the reduction of electric demand from the grid, can relieve system stress and help prevent blackouts and brownouts. Demand response played an active role in managing energy events in various parts of the United States during the summer of 2006.
EnerNOC uses its Network Operations Center (NOC), in Boston, Massachusetts, to remotely manage electricity consumption across a network of end-use customer sites and make energy available to grid operators and utilities on demand.
Echelon’s i.LON Internet Server, when installed at commercial, institutional, and industrial customer sites, can enhance EnerNOC’s technology by enabling a direct wireless connection from the NOC to building and energy management systems, says the company.
This combination of EnerNOC’s and Echelon’s technologies provides real-time access to key energy management data, including schedules and temperature set points. When regional grid operators or utilities anticipate blackouts or brownouts because of high peak demand, EnerNOC can automatically notify participating customers of the situation, called a demand response event, and initiate curtailment measures at customer sites from its NOC. In return for participation in demand response programs, customers receive cash payments for standing by as demand response resources should the grid require them to conserve energy or transfer to backup generation.
Echelon Corporation is a networking company that provides products and systems that can monitor and save energy; lower costs; improve productivity; and enhance service, quality, safety, and convenience by connecting everyday devices in utility, buildings, industrial, transportation, and home control systems.
