Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Demand Control?

Demand control, also referred to as demand management, is the process of understanding where, when and why high-cost energy demand spikes occur and taking measures to reduce them. The goal is a reduction in demand charges, which can make up as much as 40% of an industrial user’s utility bill. Demand control can be extremely difficult to manage manually.

What is Demand Response?

Providing electricity customers in both retail and wholesale electricity markets with a choice whereby they can respond to dynamic or time-based prices or other types of incentives for the utilities benefit, by reducing and/or shifting usage.

Why the Need for Demand Control?

The national average load factor (the degree to which physical facilities are being utilized) is only about 55% but many utilities are finding they are reaching dangerously uncomfortable peak demand levels multiple times a year. Utilities are now looking into demand side management and direct load control to actively shift load from peak periods to non peak periods, and ad a level of grid security with the ability to reduce the distribution grid’s load in case of equipment failures or excessive electrical usage.

What is Energy Efficiency?

Energy efficiency results from making changes in the way electricity is used such that overall costs decline while the amount of work stays the same or increases. This can be achieved multiple ways including by manipulating equipment run times to operate during less-expensive periods, scheduling operations to coincide with a more cost-effective rate schedule, and by closely controlling equipment to ensure they only run during necessary periods.

How does Demand Control Work?

Unlike other products that simply provide information, our demand control micro-processing unit continuously monitors energy usage within a facility and then manages demand by prioritizing, optimizing, and controlling energy loads based on rules and parameters defined by the user, creating a completely customized system that can be modified at any time. The result is increased efficiency yielding significant cost savings, all without losing control over productivity or building comfort.

How Much Money Can I Actually Save?

This depends on many variables as each one of our clients businesses, power consumption and needs differ. We have recovered over $200,000 in refunds for one client due to billing errors. It is not unheard of for us to be able to save up to 40% on your electric bill.

Some clients realize savings of only 2 ½% however the actual dollar amount may be big because their overall electric bill is in the millions. We invite you to take advantage of our complimentary feasibility study to see how much we may be able to help your organization save.

What types of equipment can Electric Solution interface with to achieve energy cost savings?

Electric Solution can interface seamlessly with most industrial equipment including air conditioning, chillers, fans, melting furnaces, material handling systems, waste processing, food processing and freezing, pumping, drying, and other equipment with high energy levels. Additionally, we can connect with existing control systems to work with and even extend legacy systems.

I need everything running in order to maintain production, so how can I implement load shedding?

Our energy management system will create savings without affecting production, safety, or building comfort. Facility loads chosen for shedding are loads that can be reduced or shut down under certain specific circumstances or for very short periods of time. For instance, any loads using electricity to cool, heat, or manage the storage and distribution of solids or liquids are candidates for load shedding. Rules are established for each piece of equipment that limit the amount or timing of the load shedding events to a tolerable level and can be modified by the client at any time. The system places first priority on these rules to protect production. Because our system calculates peak demand in real-time, using the same averaging techniques as the utility, load shedding usually only occurs for a matter of minutes and even then only a few times during the entire month.

What happens if things change in my facility? How do I ensure I still get value out of my savings investment?

Our system is completely adaptable to meet your changing needs. Additional loads can be added or removed as needed. You may also upgrade to a different product if needed to obtain additional functionality.

I already have an energy management or building control system, so why do I need another one?

Most existing refrigeration, building, or energy management systems focus energy savings on reducing or scheduling kWh usage. They are rarely designed to manage peak demand and almost never automatically reduce it in a cost- effective manner. Our technology is designed to manage demand in such a way as to produce savings far greater than generic systems can. Additionally, the micro-processors we use are compatible with most existing control platforms and can complement their performance for greater cost savings.

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