Garland Power & Light has launched two programs that can utilize ERCOT’s Emergency Response Service to provide power to the grid. With 30 minutes’ notice, backup generators and large commercial customers in Garland could be called upon to help prevent rotating outages.
Through participation in ERS, GP&L customers and the city’s backup generators nominate specific load amounts for designated times of the day during an upcoming four-month period. The power resource qualifies for compensation after it is selected to provide the service and passes an annual performance test.
One of GP&L’s programs utilizes backup generators at five of the city’s water pump stations. Because each generator is capable of producing more power than is required to run its station, the extra power (and the power GP&L would have normally supplied to the stations) can be made available to the grid. Similarly, when the backup generators come on at the Duck Creek Wastewater Center, the excess generation will be made available for ERS.
“Of course, the first priority is to keep the pumps running, but this will help grid stability and generate revenue for the City,” said GP&L Commercial Accounts Administrator David Koliba.
David worked closely with Garland Water Utilities and Wastewater Treatment to select the pump stations and outfit them with the necessary equipment.
“It’s exciting to see departments working together to make this program successful,” said Assistant City Manager John Baker.
This innovative program will expand in the fall to include generators at the Duckworth Utility Services Building and the City’s Emergency Management/Information Technology (EMIT) building.
In the second program, David facilitated the participation of two of GP&L’s large commercial customers in the ERS program. Over the course of several months, he worked with the customers to determine the amount of load they felt comfortable shedding from their manufacturing processes. A minimum of 100 kW must be available for this purpose. David also submitted historical 15-minute usage data to ERCOT for load shed analysis.
David continues to meet with other large commercial customers to determine if they would be interested in participating in the ERS program. “We have to consider each company’s specific situation. If the load shed would interrupt an intensive production process, the ERS revenue might not make up for their losses,” he said.
David noted that the ERCOT ERS provides great overall benefits. The customers use less energy and they get paid for shedding load; it reduces the need for construction of new generation; and it lowers the risk of blackouts.