Constellation Energy to Offer New Economic Load Response Program with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative
Program Will Provide Increased Load Aggregation Capabilities and Savings through VirtuWatt�, Constellation's Dynamic Energy Management Platform
BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) today announced an exclusive arrangement with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) to offer a new pilot program, the Cooperative Economic Load Response Program (CELRP), to its 11 member electric distribution cooperatives in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. The program is designed to allow ODEC to better manage fluctuations in wholesale supply costs and decrease utility costs for its member electric distribution cooperatives and their retail electricity customers.
ODEC's CELRP program, which will launch in 2012, leverages Constellation Energy's VirtuWatt technology, an online energy management platform, to aggregate load information and control portfolio costs in real-time. Through a customized VirtuWatt web application, ODEC can determine optimal periods for peak load reduction and identify commercial and industrial customers eligible to reduce load during those times. To encourage participation, these customers have the opportunity to earn an incentive payment for reducing energy use. ODEC is expecting to manage a minimum 20 megawatts of load annually during the pilot, which runs through May 2015.
"This program is part of ODEC's goal of providing reliable, affordable and environmentally responsible electricity to the 1.2 million member-consumers of the electric distribution cooperatives served by our organization," said Jackson E. Reasor, ODEC president and CEO. "We are pleased to have the opportunity with Constellation Energy to offer this innovative new program. Constellation Energy enjoys an outstanding reputation in the energy industry and has demonstrated a proven record of operating programs like CELRP throughout the PJM mid-Atlantic region."
"Load response programs are an attractive option for electric cooperatives and municipal utilities looking for ways to ensure reliable, cost-competitive electricity for their customers," said Gary Fromer, senior vice president, demand response, for Constellation Energy. "Through customization of our VirtuWatt web application, we can offer utilities access to load data at the customer, circuit, substation, distribution company and generation and transmission level to allow for greater efficiencies in managing supply and cost."
Constellation Energy currently manages more than 1,500 megawatts of load response for commercial and industrial customers in the PJM, New England, New York, ERCOT, California and Ontario regions. The company's VirtuWatt web application, which is also available as an iPhone� app, enables customers to better monitor and manage their electricity use and maximize the financial benefits of load response programs through minute-to-minute metering, real-time pricing information, marketplace bidding capabilities and automated energy curtailment strategies.
To watch a brief video about Constellation Energy's VirtuWatt offering, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/ConstellationEnergy#p/u/1/m62Rs6b0Vcw.
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About Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy (www.constellation.com) is a leading competitive supplier of power, natural gas and energy products and services for homes and businesses across the continental United States. It owns a diversified fleet of generating units, totaling approximately 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity, and is a leading advocate for clean, environmentally sustainable energy sources, such as solar power and nuclear energy. The company delivers electricity and natural gas through the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), its regulated utility in Central Maryland. A FORTUNE 500 company headquartered in Baltimore, Constellation Energy had revenues of $14.3 billion in 2010.
About ODEC
ODEC (www.odec.com) is a generation-and-transmission cooperative that provides wholesale power to 11 local member distribution cooperatives in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. ODEC and its member systems are not-for-profit electric cooperatives that are owned by their member-consumers and serve more than one million consumers throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.
ODEC's portfolio of generation resources currently includes its 11.6 percent ownership of the North Anna Nuclear Power Station in Louisa County, Va.; 50 percent ownership of the Clover Power Station in Halifax County, Va.; ownership and operation of generation facilities in Louisa and Fauquier counties in Virginia; 50 percent ownership of a generation facility in Cecil County, Md.; long- term contractual agreements for power generated by three wind farm projects in Pennsylvania and Maryland; landfill gas-to-energy facilities generation in Delaware and Maryland; and a hydroelectric generation facility in Western Virginia.
For more information, please visit www.odec.com.
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Constellation Energy
Kelly Biemer, 410-470-7433
or
Kwittken + Company
Karen Marotta, 646-747-7148
or
ODEC
Bill Sherrod, 804-968-4095
Source: Constellation Energy