DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
California regulators gave the state's three large utilities
owned by PG&E Corp. (PCG), Edison International (EIX) and
Sempra Energy (SRE) approval to spend a combined $454 million on
electricity demand response, or conservation, over three years.
The utilities depend on demand response, in which groups of
customers agree ahead of time to cut their energy use during times
of peak demand, to keep the grid stable during hot summer months
when electricity demand often spikes to its highest levels.
State officials also favor such conservation measures for
environmental reasons, particularly when they allow grid operators
to avoid having to order additional power plants to be switched on
to provide more electricity.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved a
demand-response budget of $192 million for PG&E's utility for
2012 through 2014, and budgets of $196 million for Southern
California Edison and $66 million for San Diego Gas & Electric
for the same time period.
PG&E has contracts with EnerNOC Inc. (ENOC), Comverge Inc.
(COMV), Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) and Energy Curtailment
Specialists Inc. to provide demand response services, according to
the CPUC.
Consumers can conserve electricity by using appliances and
charging their mobile phones and other electronic devices in the
morning or after 7 p.m. and cutting their air conditioning use,
said CPUC Commissioner Catherine Sandoval.
-By Cassandra Sweet, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6468;
cassandra.sweet@dowjones.com