Grid-Interactive Electric Water Heaters Become Focus for Peak Load Management Alliance

VALLEJO, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 12, 2013) - The Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA) has announced that Gary Connett of Great River Energy is leading the formation of PLMA's Grid-Interactive Electric Water Heating Interest Group. Grid-interactive water heating is the emerging consensus term describing high-speed, two-way communication between the electric water heating appliance and the electric utility, balancing authority, independent system operator, or aggregation entity. When equipped with a grid-interactive control, a large-capacity, electric thermal storage water heater becomes a "battery" for storing electric energy and has the ability to follow locational marginal prices, better integrate renewable energy, and provide fast regulation service.

"The benefits of this important technology aren't well understood, as evidences by recent Department of Energy efforts to restrict or ban large-capacity electric resistance water heaters," said Gary Connett. "This group will show that electric resistance water heaters can be a very useful tool to optimize energy use and increase efficiency in the home and on the electric grid." Connett is Director of Demand Side Management and Member Services for Great River Energy, a not-for-profit electric generation and transmission cooperative which provides wholesale electricity to 28 member distribution cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

"This new PLMA interest group will provide a focused platform for information sharing and market development efforts in order to move grid-interactive water heating technologies from pilot project to market introduction," said PLMA Chairman Paul Tyno of REGEN Energy. "The topic may not be as sexy as electric vehicles or web-enabled thermostats, but PLMA sees a critical market need to raise the visibility for this niche opportunity and its potential to deliver energy storage and smart grid optimization."

The Group's first initiative will be a half-day workshop on October 31 after the 14^th PLMA Fall Conference in Atlanta. Details are available now at www.peaklma.org.

About the Peak Load Management Alliance. The Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA) was founded in 1999 as the national voice of demand response practitioners. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to the principles of demand side management, load shaping, and the integration of energy efficiency and demand response. Its membership represents a diverse collection of utilities, curtailment service providers, service and technology companies, industry consultants, and consumers. PLMA strives to be an advocate of critical energy management initiatives -- providing a community of expertise within a rapidly changing energy landscape. Details at www.peaklma.org.