The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority administers the energy efficiency programs. The California ISO has developed several demand response programs for 2001 in order to minimize or eliminate the need for involuntary rotating blackouts. Curtailments are limited to 24 hours per month and customers must have an hourly interval meter. As an example of Federal leadership in this area, the General Services Administration has submitted a proposal to the California ISO for approximately 1.3 megawatts of savings through innovative demand limiting strategies at four GSA buildings. The ISO is also developing a Discretionary Load Curtailment program that will operate year-round and is designed to attract voluntary curtailments prior to emergency conditions from Load Aggregators.
Federal agencies can be Load Aggregators or they can work through other entities such as utilities.
Programs that may be of particular interest to Federal customers include the statewide Standard Performance Contract program where financial incentives were included for both energy savings and peak demand reductions and contract terms were shortened with simpler measurement and verification requirements. Funding was expanded for the Express Efficiency program, which provides rebates for efficient equipment. Energy efficiency programs and budgets are also increasing in the Pacific Northwest. BPA has announced that they will acquire approximately 150 average megawatts of conservation during the 2002-2006 period in order to augment their expected power supply needs.