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Programs Offer Co-ops Grid Management Flexibility, Savings

April 26, 2024

More than 370,000 appliances owned by cooperative members like you are playing a role in managing the reliability of the regional electric grid and saving the entire membership money at the same time.

Stearns Electric and the other 26 member-owner cooperatives that receive wholesale electric power from Great River Energy offer voluntary programs that empower members to use the grid efficiently and economically by reducing demand during periods of stress and shifting energy consumption to off-peak times.

By choosing to enroll an electric appliance, such as a water heater or air conditioner, into one of your cooperative’s “demand response” programs, you are helping keep electricity reliable and affordable.

Stearns Electric provides two ways for its members to make contributions toward helping manage the grid while receiving rebates or other incentives for their participation: 1) interruptible programs and 2) off-peak programs.

Using the example of an electric water heater, a member who enrolls this home appliance into an interruptible program gives permission for their cooperative to pause service to the water heater to eliminate all or part of its load from the system for up to eight hours when wholesale energy market prices are high.

“Through the flip of a switch, this strategy helps reduce our monthly billing peak,” said John Pantzke, Manager of Energy Services. “Water heaters enrolled in this program do have sufficient storage capacity to supply hot water over the peak period while service is paused so members aren’t left in the cold.”

Members are also not caught off guard during times of interruption. Participants are often alerted in advance of a control event by Stearns Electric and have access to a website that shares the schedule up to a day in advance.

This strategy is employed mostly to avoid high wholesale energy prices and to reduce the monthly billing peak of Great River Energy’s member-owner cooperatives. Participants experienced 40 pauses to their water heater service in 2023 according to data provided by Great River Energy.

If you are more interested in the off-peak program, you would receive a rebate for a high-efficiency water heater that is “charged” overnight with sufficient storage capacity via less expensive electricity to supply your home’s hot water needs. Program participants can expect their water heaters to recharge for eight hours, typically between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. during the winter season and 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. in summer. This strategy only applies to weekdays, excluding weekends and holidays unless billing peak control is needed.

“Participation in this program helps provide significant economic relief to the overall membership by shifting heating load to the overnight hours, resulting in more favorable rates,” Pantzke added. “This also helps us defer wholesale energy purchases to off-peak hours that would otherwise cost more to purchase during on-peak hours.”

Contact our Energy Services department at (800) 962-0655 for more information on our demand responses programs and how you can get enrolled.

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