The California Energy Commission’s (CEC) has selected a provider for two pilot programs in its new Demand Side Grid Support (DSGS) Program, which offers incentives to electric customers that provide load reduction and backup generation to support the state’s electrical grid during extreme events.
The CEC selected OhmConnect, a residential energy management company, as the only provider for the two pilot programs.
OhmConnect will participate in the DSGS’ Incremental Market-Integrated Demand Response Capacity Pilot as a residential aggregator providing flexible demand when the grid is most stressed. The program provides incentives to customers who reduce their energy consumption at peak times and especially during extreme weather events.
OhmConnect will work with SunPower, a residential solar technology and energy services provider, to participate in the DSGS Market-Aware Behind-the-Meter Battery Storage Pilot. This will allow SunPower customers enrolled in the OhmConnect virtual power plant program to earn more for providing stored solar power back to the grid when demand for electricity is at its highest.
OhmConnect said its community of energy savers played a critical role in the unprecedented August 2020 heat wave, helping the state avoid a blackout by reducing an estimated 1 GWh of energy, which is equivalent to taking 600K homes off of the grid for an hour. Energy savers collectively earned $1.3 million from OhmConnect for their efforts and also helped prevent six additional days of blackouts during the heatwave, the company said.
During the nine-day heatwave in September 2022, OhmConnect’s community received over $2.7 million in rewards and saved about 1.5 GigaWatt hours of energy, the equivalent of taking 1 million homes off the grid for an hour, the company said.
