Business PowerResponse

Business PowerResponse is a Demand Response program where you contribute to reducing electricity consumption from the grid by changing your normal electricity usage at times of peak demand e.g. turning down a high usage operational process

As a participant you can be financially rewarded for reducing peak electricity usage, you can unlock revenue streams for existing assets, and you can improve your sustainability credentials as reduced peak electricity usage helps transition to a cleaner energy future.

You are only able to participate in one Demand Response program for business unless EnergyAustralia has provided prior written consent. This applies to any Demand Response Program offered by EnergyAustralia or a third party for the duration of a contract (where applicable).

Yes, you can participate across multiple sites. You will be rewarded for the cumulative usage reduction across all the sites.

If you change retailers for your electricity supply, you will no longer be eligible to participate in the Business PowerResponse.

There are no fees for exiting Business PowerResponse. If you wish to exit please provide notice in writing or call us and we will no longer send event notifications to you. It could take up to 30 days for your request to be finalised.

Remember that participation in events is your choice, every time. You can choose how you respond to event notifications, so you remain fully in control. You do not need to exit the program to avoid an event.

An event is where EnergyAustralia will ask you to reduce your energy usage for a specific period of time.

We will send an SMS to the mobile number you have provided when we know of an event.

This will be up to 24 hours prior to the event and it will advise when the event will start and end.

We try to give as much notice as possible but the notice may be short. On some occasions the notice could be as little as a few minutes prior to the event.

As always, you can choose whether you participate or not, so if it’s not convenient for you, that’s ok.

We’ll then confirm the event has started with an SMS.

The conclusion of the event will also be confirmed with an SMS, so you know you can return to normal usage.

Events are likely to be between 1 and 4 hours in duration.

Events are most likely to be held between 10am – 10pm on weekdays.

Your safety, and the safety of your personnel, is a paramount consideration for EnergyAustralia. You should not participate in an event where any resulting energy reduction will result in discomfort or injury to anyone in the business.

There isn’t a planned number of events. This is because events can be triggered by unplanned occurrences like extreme weather. Event participation is always optional for you.

Main ways of reducing your energy usage after you receive the event notification are:

• Reducing on-site energy usage e.g. turn down high usage operations
• Running existing on-site generation e.g. run backup generator to reduce grid usage at site
• Dispatching on-site energy storage e.g. discharge energy stored in batteries to reduce the amount you draw from the grid

Please remember that safety is never negotiable so if modifying certain operations could be harmful to anyone, you should not do so during an event. Please consider this when deciding whether and how to participate in an event.

You will be notified by SMS if an event has been cancelled.

If an event is rescheduled, you will receive an SMS with the new time for the event.

You will be credited for your usage reduction by comparing your actual usage during the event to a baseline of what your usage would have been if the event had not occurred.

The CAISO 10 baseline is used which has been developed by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and widely used in Australia.  It provides a baseline of what customers “normal” usage would be at the time of a Demand Response event.  

The Baseline is calculated on the basis of 10 Previous Similar Days.  These are the 10 Business Days, that did not have a Demand Response Event, immediately prior to the day of the Demand Response event.  The Baseline amount is then calculated for each Trading Interval in three steps:

Step 1: Calculate the “deemed baseline consumption” from 10 Previous Similar Days

Calculate the average Customer usage for that Trading Interval over the 10 Previous Similar Days. 

Step 2: Calculate an adjustment to reflect conditions on the day of the Demand Response event

The “Morning of Adjustment” (MOA) period is the first 3 hours in the 4-hour period leading up to the Demand Response event.  Calculate:

• (a) the usage during the MOA period on the day of the Demand Response event; and
• (b) the average usage during the MOA period over the 10 Previous Similar Days.

The MOA Offset is the MOA usage on the day of the Demand Response event minus the average MOA usage on the 10 Previous Similar Days.  i.e. (a) minus (b).  This number may be negative.

The MOA Adjustment is the MOA Offset divided by 6 (which is the number of 30-minute Trading Intervals during the MOA period).

Step 3: Calculate the Baseline consumption for that Trading Interval

The Baseline is the sum of the deemed baseline consumption and the MOA Adjustment.

Example: Demand Response event held 2pm to 4pm on Friday 25 January 2019

Previous Demand Response events: a Demand Response event was held on 24 January

Trading Interval being calculated: 2.00pm to 2.30pm.  This calculation would be repeated for the other three Trading Intervals in the Demand Response event (2.30-3pm, 3-3.30pm. 3.30-4pm)

All credits that you earn through the Business PowerResponse program will be applied to your electricity account on a following bill. They will appear on your bill as a PowerResponse payment under the adjustments section on the bill, with the $ credit amount.

Call us on 1800 589 863 and talk to us about questions on the payment. We can arrange for the amount to be investigated.