Flathead Electric runs with power-cutting program

In an effort to cut costs for powering hot water heaters during peak hours this winter, Flathead Electric Cooperative has unrolled its new Peak Time Demand Response Program.

Peak period demand is the greatest amount of electrical power that Flathead Electric Cooperative must supply to all customers at any given time during the month. According to Flathead Electric, during that time the cooperative must pay higher rates.

As part of the program, Flathead Electric will install for free a Demand Response Unit, a small control box next to the water heater. During peak time, Flathead Electric will remotely shut off the hot water heater and turn it back on once peak time has passed.

Teri Rayome-Kelly, demand response coordinator for Flathead Electric, said the cooperative so far has installed 842 units in homes in Northwest Montana, with 52 on a waiting list.

“We’ve had great luck so far as far as equipment,” Rayome-Kelly said.

Flathead first tested the system in 2009 with 120 units.

“It was very reliable. We got good results as far as load shed and zero complaints,” Rayome-Kelly said.

Rayome-Kelly said that even while the hot water heater is shut off, customers can still use the residual hot water built up over time.

Rayome-Kelly said peak times are different during winter compared to summer.

During winter months, peak time occurs on weekdays during the hours of 6 to 11 a.m. In the summer, when customers are using electricity to run air conditioning, peak time comes in the afternoon or early evening.

As part of the program’s effort not to take heat away from customers with visiting guests, Flathead Electric won’t turn hot water heaters off during weekends or holidays.

Flathead Electric offers a $4 credit to members who participate in the program. This reflects the drop is cost the cooperative pays when peak time causes the utility’s supplier, Bonneville Power Administration, to reach into extra resources to cover all the customers.

Ross Holter, Director of Energy and Member Services at Flathead Electric said that while the data is still preliminary in its first year, the savings are already showing. According to Holter, Flathead Electric shaved about 464 kilowatts during peak time in October, translating to $5,300 saved.

“October was a good month. The data is corresponding well with our estimates, what we thought it would be,” Holter said. “We gave about half of [the $5,300] to customers in the form of the $4 rebate and the other half goes toward the cost of installing the units.”

Holter said the saving margin seems slim because the program is still in its early stages. Flathead Electric hopes to reach 5,000 units in about six years to max out the program.

“It’s a constant challenge that’s fun and interesting,” Holter said. “It will be significant at some point. This is just the leading edge of this kind of program.”

Shaving off the amount of energy used during peak time reduces the amount of energy drawn from environmentally hazardous sources such as coal plants.

“Part of it is, if BPA has to provide more energy for us when we get into those big demand periods, they have to turn up more expenses and use less environmental ways of producing that energy. It might be coal plants instead of water and wind types of energy,” Rayome-Kelly said.

For more information on the program, visit the Flathead Electric offices in Kalispell or Libby or call Teri Rayome-Kelly at 293-7122, extension 1834.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.