Aggregated backup generators help support San Diego grid

Dr. Robert Peltier, PE

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The “NOC” in EnerNOC

Tim Healy, EnerNOC’s chairman and CEO, is proud of the company’s accomplishments. When SDG&E calls an event, Healy’s team in Boston at EnerNOC’s Network Operations Center—the “NOC” in EnerNOC—springs into action (Figure 3). The NOC sends automated dispatch information to all designated facility managers informing them that their engines will be remotely fired within 2 minutes. NOC operators then initiate the event, which automatically notifies customers and remotely starts their generators. Within minutes, clean, permitted generators from numerous sites remove 25 MW of load from the grid and help SDG&E avoid blackouts and brownouts.

3. The “NOC” in EnerNOC. EnerNOC’s Network Operations Center in Boston is a state-of-the-art facility that can dispatch thousands of assets across the U.S. and Canada. The NOC is staffed 24/7/365—much like an ISO control room. Courtesy: EnerNOC

SDG&E can call an event during specified hours on any Monday through Saturday, including holidays. However, there is a limit on the total number of hours per year that SDG&E can use Clean Gen.

“Remotely firing the engines is an added service we provide,” says Healy. “In other parts of the country it is not required that the generators start so quickly, so we offer our customers the option of firing the generators up themselves or having us start them remotely.” Because EnerNOC has invested millions of dollars in its software to power the NOC, it is not only capable of starting an engine in San Diego with the click of a mouse in Boston, but the NOC can also track and analyze electricity usage and manage demand response events for thousands of locations across North America simultaneously (Table 1).

Table 1. Demand is skyrocketing. All across the country electricity demand is increasing as a result of economic growth. In order to keep pace with this demand, certain utilities and independent system operators (ISOs) are finding that demand response programs help address the problem. Source: EnerNOC