Save Energy on the Farm

The California Farm Bureau Federation has signed on to partner with the California Independent System Operator in the ISO’s Voluntary Load Reduction Program that may create substantial benefits to our members.

Below is a description of the program as prepared by the California ISO.

In a nutshell, the program is a completely voluntary one that relies on participants to reduce their electricity consumption by an amount of their choosing when the California ISO declares a power emergency. Participants will receive automatically generated phone messages when the California ISO declares a Stage 1 or greater emergency. (In a Stage 1 emergency reserve levels of available generation capacity have dropped below 6 percent.) A sample message includes the following:

1. The California ISO has declared a Stage 1 Emergency.
2. Voluntary load reduction is requested between identified hours.

Members are strongly encouraged to participate in the program, as a no-harm tool to ensure sufficient electricity this summer. In return participants will be some of the first in the State to be aware of low supply conditions.

To participate simply provide your name, county affiliation, address and telephone number on which you wish to be notified about the emergency to Kim Blair at (916) 561-5591. The information will be forwarded on to the ISO.

Contact Karen Norene Mills at (916) 561-5655, e-mail kmills@cfbf.com for further details or if you have questions.

The California Independent System Operator's Voluntary Load Reduction Program

The Voluntary Load Reduction Program (VLRP) is a California ISO program that provides an additional level of Demand reduction (conservation) on the electric system. This purely voluntary program relies upon its participants to reduce their energy consumption by an amount of their choosing when the California ISO declares a power emergency. Program participants are able to achieve their energy savings objective by deploying predefined conservation measures when called upon by the California ISO. There is no estimate of the amount of Demand relief that may be achieved under the VLRP. However, during the 2001 energy crisis, California reduced its overall energy use by nearly 6 percent, which equates to approximately 5,000 megawatts. To put that number in perspective, one megawatt is enough energy to power 750 average California homes.

The objective of the VLRP is to prevent further escalation of an emergency to higher levels that could require more severe actions, including the interruption of service to customers on an involuntary basis. Here is how the program works: when the California ISO has determined that available resources are insufficient to maintain adequate Operating Reserves, a Stage One Emergency declaration is issued. This notice may be accompanied by a request to the participants in the VLRP to reduce their electricity consumption by any amount that they are willing to make available. The program participants support the California ISOs efforts to avoid interruption of energy service by voluntarily reducing their power consumption.

The California Grocers Association, a long-term program participant, has found that the VLRP saves money and demonstrates good environmental stewardship. Participation in this program also serves as a reminder to employees and customers of the participating company that they too can personally contribute to conservation efforts. The California ISO acknowledges and promotes these "good citizen" conservation efforts through media events, news releases, and a special "thank you" to companies via its website.

Procedure

• If a Stage One Emergency is declared and it is expected that Operating Reserves will decline further, then the California ISO will issue curtailment requests to the Voluntary Load Reduction Program (VLRP) Participants listed in California ISO Operating Procedure E-511: "Load Reduction Programs".
• Because operating conditions can change rapidly there is no standard notification lead-time for requesting assistance from VLRP participants. We will, however, give as much notice as possible.
• VLRP curtailment requests will be issued on non-Federal holiday weekdays prior to 5:00 PM for the current operating day.
• VLRP curtailment requests will be issued via an alphanumeric text message to e-mail and e-pager addresses contained in a pre-defined group broadcast list, and listed in attachment "A" of Operating Procedure E-511.
• Only one VLRP reduction request will be issued per operating day for any amount of hours required.
• The start and end time of the requested VLRP curtailment will be specified in the message. A sample VLRP curtailment request includes the following: The California ISO has declared a Stage 1 Emergency. Voluntary load reduction is requested between 15:00 hours and 16:00 hours.

For more information on this program, please contact:
Tami Elliott
California Independent System Operator
Operations Support
Work: 916-608-5776