Demand Management

Demand management refers to the strategies businesses use to control when and how electricity is consumed in order to reduce peak demand. Because demand charges are based on the highest level of power a building draws during a short interval, managing those peaks can significantly lower electricity costs. Many facilities achieve this by shifting loads, staggering equipment startup, or using control systems that limit simultaneous power use. The articles in this section explain how demand management works and the operational strategies businesses use to reduce demand charges.

ComEd also pays customers directly to reduce load on request, under three separate filed programs with very different terms. For a business, ComEd Rider VLR names no price in the tariff at all, which changes how the enrolment decision has to be made. For a household, the choice is between the Peak Time Rebate at a dollar per kilowatt hour avoided and forty dollars a year to let ComEd interrupt the air conditioner, and the filed tariff makes those two mutually exclusive.