White Papers

Wake Electric Membership Corporation Case Study

0 comments Posted January 06, 2011 at 07:10 am

Wake Electric Membership Corporation in Wake Forest, N.C. is a rural electric cooperative that provides energy and related services to more than 34,500 residential and commercial members in 7 North Carolina counties. Wake Electric represents 55,000 Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) units, water heaters and pool pumps, which are high energy consuming devices.

Today, Wake Electric purchases power from North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation that in turn buys power from Duke Energy and Progress Energy. Wake Electric sought to create a more efficient and environmentally responsible electrical grid. The goal was to improve demand forecasting and manage peak loads while ensuring their members were able to control their comfort level and save on energy bills. The need for a real-time Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system, integrated control software, the ability to meet renewable legislation requirements and backhaul led them to implement Consert’s Energy Management Solution and test its effectiveness in a pilot program.

Working closely with Consert, Wake Electric conducted this pilot program with 100 members in its service area. The Consert Energy Management Solution is based on a wireless smart grid technology which allows members to conserve energy and offer it back to Wake Electric as a source of capacity and energy reserves. Within two weeks of announcing the pilot program, Wake Electric received responses from more than 200 members willing to participate.

Why was it Wake Electric's time for change?

Wake Electric saw the need to look at new technologies that could manage loads more effectively, especially in periods of peak demand.  It sought sources of capacity to provide flexibility and reliability, in addition to helping improve its planning needs.

The cooperative also needed to put practices in place to comply with North Carolina’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards legislation which mandates it must meet 10% of its energy needs through renewable energy resources or energy efficiency measures.

An assessment of its existing energy landscape and member needs led Wake Electric to seek a comprehensive smart grid solution.

Wake Electric knew its members’ needs were simple - keep the lights on, keep rates low and keep providing excellent service. It saw the opportunity to meet these requests by moving beyond an AMI-only solution to a demand side management solution. 

An Outstanding Outcome

Wake Electric and Consert completed a successful 8-month smart grid technology pilot that achieved all intended goals including actualizing operating reserve capacity through Consert’s Energy Management Solution as well as tracking renewables. Pilot participant energy savings throughout the program relative to non-participating members was approximately 6%.

Addressing Wake Electric's Needs

Wake Electric and Consert jointly wrote the pilot test plan following specific goals to demonstrate the significance of the Consert Energy Management Solution.  Goals assigned to the pilot included: 

• Meet member needs: keep power on and rates low
• Offer an energy management system for members to utilize
• Measure and verify reductions in energy usage
• Measure and verify energy savings

Consert hosted a specialized operations center configured for evaluation purposes including a Customer Service Representative Utility Portal which gave Wake Electric a range of capabilities:

• Interruptible Loads
• Manage Members
• Read Power Meters
• Create Utility Reports
• View System Load Profile
• Smart Grid/AMI Features & Operational Benefits

Click here to download the full Case Study.