USING POWER FOR GOOD

• CPA’s Power Response Commercial Leaders Program is a Demand Response program administered by AutoGrid Systems Inc. for CPA business and public sector customers.
• Commercial Leaders receive financial incentives for their environmental leadership in their communities by participating in the Commercial Leaders Power Response program during times of high energy demand.
• Demand Response programs are intended to encourage consumers to reduce energy usage when electricity consumption is anticipated to be higher than the electricity grid can provide.
• During times of higher than seasonally projected energy demand, Commercial Energy Saving Events will be called and participants will be asked to reduce their electricity usage. These events can happen up to 15 times per year between 4-9 PM.
• Smart devices like thermostats, electric vehicle chargers, and connected systems make it easy for you to participate, as AutoGrid can manage them for you.
• Business and public sector customers may also participate without any connected devices by manually adjusting your systems, such as turning off nonessential lights, raising the temperature on the thermostat, or turning off equipment not in use.

CPA has chosen to partner with AutoGrid to implement this program. Based in California since 2011, AutoGrid and its customers use AutoGrid software to deploy demand response (DR) programs which combine behavioral dispatch, dynamic pricing, and direct load control mechanisms to reduce or shift load during peak electricity usage times. In addition, AutoGrid uses its proven software system and its vast network of partners to provide turnkey programs to electricity providers and utilities in the US including program design and implementation, payment processing, and consumer support. For additional information please visit www.auto-grid.com

Participants can receive up to $80 per kW each year for power reduced during Commercial Energy Saving Events. Payments and incentive rates are seasonal and based on the actual performance of your business during a Commercial Energy Saving Event.    

Incentives will be calculated based on your monthly Commercial Energy Saving Event performance. The number of reduced kilowatt hours of energy will be calculated per Commercial Energy Saving Event and will be divided by the number of hours dispatched for each event to arrive at the incentivized kilowatt value. The incentive for the month will be based on the monthly average.

If the participant does not participate or does not reduce energy during any of the events within a month, the incentive will be zero for that month. 

• You may save energy which may result in electricity bill savings.
• You can help CPA to lower the demand on the electric grid.
• You can help our environment from the harmful effects of excessive dirty fossil fuel usage.
• You could help avoid a blackout when the stress levels on the electricity grid are high.

We will work directly with your business to create a custom plan that works for you. Begin by filling out a brief Interest Form today and a CPA representative from AutoGrid, our program implementer, will follow up within three business days.

Your CPA representative will work with you to complete an assessment of your site, identifying automated or manual strategies to save power during Commercial Energy Saving Events and earn incentives. These strategies will include plans to connect devices and systems for automatic adjustment during events, as well as plans to manually modulate or turn off systems to create energy savings.

When possible, smart connected devices will be automatically programmed for events. See the Terms & Conditions for more details.

• CPA customers on a business rate
• Site(s) with an eligible smart device OR ability to manually adjust electricity use, e.g,
  • Network-connected EV chargers, thermostats, water heaters, batteries, and building management systems
  • Manually adjustable systems and appliances, such as modifiable thermostat setpoints, car chargers that can be depowered, delayed cycling of 2-stage HVAC systems, rescheduled water pumping, battery storage systems that can be discharged
• Site(s) with regular energy use during the Power Response Commercial Leader peak periods of 4-9 PM and can reduce electricity usage during that time
• Customers enrolled in other “demand response” programs are not eligible

Enrollment is simple:

1. Complete an interest form 
2. A CPA representative will follow up within 3 business days to confirm your interest and eligibility.
3. Work directly with a CPA representative to complete a site assessment.
4. Identify energy-saving strategies with your CPA representative to respond to Commercial Energy Saving Events. Strategies will be automated and/or manually implemented by site staff.

You will be notified that your enrollment is accepted or not accepted by email approximately three to six weeks after enrolling in the Power Response Commercial Leaders program. During the enrollment process, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) will check to see that you are not currently enrolled in another DR program.  If the process with CAISO finds that you are currently enrolled in another DR program, and you cannot be disenrolled from it you will receive a nonacceptance letter and will be unable to participate.

You will be notified by AutoGrid, our program implementer, via email approximately three to six weeks after registering your device if there is a conflict when you are being enrolled in the Power Response Commercial Leaders Program.

If you don't have any of the eligible technologies but would like to participate, you may participate by manually adjusting your power usage on site during a Commericial Energy Saving Event.

You may withdraw from Power Response Commercial Leaders at any time with no financial penalty, but you will be ineligible to receive incentives accrued within that calendar month or any subsequent rewards. You will still receive your incentive for prior months in which you were actively enrolled for the entire duration of the month.

To withdraw from the program, please contact CPA’s Power Response customer support at 888-292-0502 or email powerresponse@cleanpoweralliance.org. Please include your name, street address, and SCE Service ID when requesting to unenroll.

Commercial Energy Saving Events will not be called more than 15 times per year, with no more than three events in any seven-day period. Events will not occur on weekends or holidays.

Commercial Energy Saving Events will occur between 4-9 PM and will not exceed 4 hours.

However, in cases of a Grid Emergency, AutoGrid may dispatch your Device more than 3 times in a 7-day period, on a weekend, or during a holiday. 

A “Grid Emergency” occurs when the California Independent System Operator (“CAISO”) (a) declares an Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) 2 or greater; (b) when CAISO declares an event threatening or limiting transmission grid capability including line or transformer overloads; (c) when a state of emergency related to a sudden and severe energy shortage is declared pursuant to California Government Code section 8565, et seq.; or (d) other event or action that can result in a sudden and severe energy shortage to California’s electricity grid.

Notifications will be sent to an identified point of contact who will be responsible for ensuring energy-saving strategies are deployed at the site or business. A CPA representative will work with you to identify this contact and the best means of communication.

You will not be assessed any financial penalties for declining events. However, lack of participation in DR events could reduce your expected monthly incentive, which is based on your average monthly performance. Opting out of an event will count as a zero in the monthly performance average calculation.

See “How is performance measured?”.

Once you agree to share your meter data as part of the enrollment process, you will authorize AutoGrid, our program implenter, to be your Demand Response Provider (DRP). As a result, AutoGrid will have access to some of your utility information, including the customer name associated with the account, the service address, rate schedule, meter type, electric usage, billing data, and if you are enrolled in a utility demand response program. This data will be kept in a secure location according to Fair Information Practices as prescribed by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) guidelines. For more information on the DRP authorization process and data protocols, refer to the CPUC website https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/electric-costs/demand-response-dr/drp-registration-information. For more information on AutoGrid’s privacy policy please visit https://www.auto-grid.com/privacy-policy/.