Itron, a technology and services company dedicated to the resourceful use of energy and water, signed a three-year contract extension with Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative.
Following a 10-year contract, Itron will continue to provide SMECO with a fully outsourced and pay-for-performance demand response solution that helps the cooperative ensure reliable power and lower rates for its members.
Itron has operated SMECO‘s CoolSentry outsourced demand response program for nine years, deploying more than 45,000 load control devices for residential and small commercial customers.
Enrolling 16 MW of large commercial and industrial load for a total of 60 MW of available capacity, SMECO is able to reduce its exposure to generation and transmission capacity charges in the wholesale market.
As a fully outsourced solution, Itron recruits customers into the program, installs the necessary load control equipment and operates the program using Itron’s IntelliSOURCE Enterprise cloud-based software. Using the flexible and surgical control strategies enabled by IntelliSOURCE Enterprise, Itron operates the program as a virtual power plant for the utility, increasing reliability and lowering costs to SMECO’s customers.
Itron ensured a cost-effective load management solution for SMECO in the previous contract, taking on the accountability to deliver sustained results under a pay-for-performance model. Due to Itron’s success in meeting these requirements, SMECO chose Itron to continue managing the program through this contract extension.
