The Irvine Ranch Water District load shifting and demand response pilot project sought to advance, test, and validate a novel technology platform that could contribute considerably to achieving California’s energy goals and reducing costs at industrial water treatment, pumping, and recycling facilities. The project aimed to automate load shifting and demand response at various water treatment and pumping facilities located throughout the Irvine Ranch Water District to reduce on-peak energy demand and use, enable site participation in demand response programs, and reduce energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions. The ultimate intent was to validate an approach that water agencies could use to achieve savings by reducing or shifting electricity load, with the prospect of using such strategies in water facilities throughout California and elsewhere.
This report documents the process, results, and findings from the project. The project demonstrated the load reduction and shifting benefits for sites through installing a battery energy storage system, and it highlighted the challenges associated with baseline-related demand response performance calculations with a battery energy storage system. The project also documented difficulties with implementing operating changes at water sites to achieve load reduction. As a result, this report provides valuable lessons learned on load reduction and shifting prospects using storage at water utilities and possibilities/challenges with demand response participation.
