GridPoint has seen substantial growth of customer participation in automated demand response (DR) programs during the 2021 peak demand season, equaling a 192% increase in capacity under management over 2020. By engaging small business and enterprise commercial customers, like Walgreens, with buildings under 50,000 sq. ft., GridPoint proves these underutilized building profiles can be leveraged today as a resource to provide the reliable, on-demand capacity the grid increasingly requires.
GridPoint has been providing flexible capacity to the grid from commercial buildings for over 15 years. These programs create new revenue streams for businesses through utility program participation and avoid costly peak energy charges during high-demand times. However, businesses that occupy these smaller-profile buildings are often overlooked by utilities due to the limited load they can provide at a given time. GridPoint’s approach enables small business and enterprise commercial market participation in DR programs through grid-interactive, OpenADR-certified technology deployed as a subscription, without impacting daily operations. By breaking down technology cost barriers and providing efficiency benefits directly to the business, GridPoint bridges the gap between utilities and millions of small-tomedium size buildings across the country that hold untapped capacity. These buildings, networked together, unlock the substantial capacity needed today for a more efficient tomorrow.
Recent trends of electrification, the transition towards renewables, and extreme weather as seen in California and Texas can be attributed to the increased participation GridPoint saw in the 2021 DR season. Businesses are realizing the real-world impacts of power disruption and rising energy costs, and they want to be a part of the solution.
Walgreens, for example, has been leveraging GridPoint’s platform to manage energy and optimize their buildings since 2009. Together with GridPoint they have reduced emissions by over 80 million kWh annually. Walgreens also participates in demand response through GridPoint while keeping essential zones, like the pharmacy, functioning normally during events. Throughout the California grid emergency in August of 2020, Walgreens was instrumental in voluntarily curtailing load across impacted locations, providing megawatts of capacity back to the grid. The company’s contributions helped to stabilize energy demand and avoid additional blackouts.
“In 2021 GridPoint increased our nationwide DR program coverage by 46%, increased our capacity under management by 192%, and increased our customer participation in DR programs by 195% with zero optouts for the entire 2021 program year,” said GridPoint CEO Mark Danzenbaker. “This dramatic growth proves that leveraging the underutilized capacity of smaller buildings is a scalable, reliable solution to address urgent energy needs, and GridPoint can do this today.”
Reach out to GridPoint directly to learn more about their demand response solutions for summer seasons and beyond.
