Standards for automated demand response communications

While electric utilities have been offering a wide variety of programs to curtail load in times of stress on the electric grid, there have been no standards for program parameters, nor standard methods for communicating between utility and customer. In the past year there has been an effort to bring the utility providers and facilities industry together to reach agreement on communication technology and message content to allow for standardized communications. The Demand Response Automation Server provides for automated demand response (DR), allowing a customer's facility energy management system to follow pre-programmed energy reduction measures in response to utility signals. These signals might provide notice of a load curtailment event or provide a real time price update. The benefits of this for industrial customers are the potential for participating in DR programs with multiple energy providers, reduced cost of energy management systems and hardware, and thus more options for implementing demand response in industrial facilities. This paper introduces the Demand Response Automation Server and describes progress toward standardized communications. The role of ASHRAE's (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers) BACnet (Building Automation and Controls Network) communication standard in this effort, the tools within BACnet that serve demand response communications, and the place of BACnet relative to the industrial customer will also be discussed. Finally, some examples will be given how these standards can be used by the industrial customer to implement automated demand response. Copyright (2008) by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. All rights reserved.