Dive Brief:

• Demand response programs in Texas should benefit from rule changes to the Emergency Response Service (ERS) program just enacted by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) board.
• ERCOT made permanent a 30-minute notice product that pays the same market-clearing price from the energy market and shifts most of the budget to the summer peak hours. The previous rule operated on a 10-minute schedule on a pay-as-bid model, which limited the market for ERS to those firms that could operate on such a tight schedule.
• ​A pilot project grew from 19 megawatts to 138 megawatts over the life of the program, including 1,363 sites that had not previously been involved in ERS.

Dive Insight:

EnerNOC President David Brewster says the changes are significant because it aligns payments toward business hours when more customers are online. The longer time period also opens the ERS market to those who need the additional time to respond.