and why call for energy reduction?
by Jerry Loney
Load control is when Great River Energy (GRE) sends out a signal to North Itasca Electric’s load control receivers turning off higher consuming electrical devices of those enrolled on a load control program such as water heater, electric boilers, plenum heaters, central air source heat pumps, or baseboard heaters, naming a few, to prevent high demands on not only North Itasca Electric’s system but also on GRE’s electric grid.
North Itasca Electric Cooperative is not the sole participant in turning off these devices, but one of 27 other Cooperatives which receive electricity from GRE. Once a month a billing peak is called by GRE which measures the amount of energy in kW demand along with kWhs needed by North Itasca Electric’s members. Demand is the amount of energy needed at a specific point in time to supply all members with energy.
The lower we can keep kW demand during this billing peak, the lower the demand charge would be billed to North Itasca Electric each month. For those living in and around Northome you do not receive energy from GRE, but Minnkota Power which also bills North Itasca Electric for demand, but instead of monthly, demand is measured twice a year to determining what North Itasca Electric’s demand charges will be.
GRE and Minnkota both monitor energy demand loads and costs constantly to determine if or when a load control period will happen for those on load control programs.
Periods of load control can happen at any time but most often between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. In the last couple years, we have even experienced control during the morning hours as well, most often when reaching subzero temperatures.
High demands are not caused only by those having electric heating systems installed on North Itasca Electric’s system, but a collective of all members of the 27 cooperatives GRE serves and those served by Minnkota Power.
This September when the billing peak occurred, North Itasca Electric experienced one of its highest demand loads of 8,493.9 kW. Minnkota’s demand was 1,340 kW totaling 9,833.9 kW.
These charges are not reflected in your electric bills.
These charges by month are:
June, July, and August – $21.45
January, February, and December – Average $17.57
March, April, May, September, October, and November – $13.68
One can see reducing demand loads by any amount during billing peaks could save North Itasca Electric a tremendous amount in costs. How much is one kW? 1,000 Watts.
For example:
• Water heater – 4,500 Watts or (4.5 kW) X $/kW above = month’s demand charge.
• Space heaters – 1,500 Watts or (1.5 kW) X $/kW above = month’s demand charge.
If each of our 5,200 members could reduce energy even by 500 Watts during a billing peak, it would save 2,600 kW in demand charges.
June, July, and August – $21.45 x 2,600 = $55,770 each month.
January, February, and December – $17.57 X 2600 = $45,682 each month.
March, April, May, September, October, and November – $13.68 X 2,600 = $35,568 each month.
Those on load control programs save money by paying lower rates because the rates North Itasca Electric pays for energy are lower, being able to avoid demand and higher energy costs. As we see above, one does not need to be on a load control program to help North Itasca Electric save money, which ultimately saves the membership money. Even though peak periods are not known until the day of control; North Itasca Electric’s records show a pretty constant bill peak period being between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. If all of us could be vigilant during these hours, the savings for one month would cover my whole year’s salary. (Just funning you, but true).
