Spending time outdoors, reading, playing the flute and exploring new cultures
are Jackie Gushue's hobbies. But while visiting CMMAP this summer, she worked with
Professor Michele Betsill looking at the "Jump Start" program and at electric
rate structures and their impact on demand response decision making.
Jackie is a junior at Boston University majoring in environmental analysis and
Policy and GIS.
The Renewable and Distributed Systems Integration (RDSI) "Jump Start" Program
she worked with is a project within FortZED, an initiative whose goal is to
become the largest active net zero energy district in the world. Based in Fort
Collins, CO, Jump Start plans to test the ability of a combination of demand
response (DR) resources to reduce electricity demand when either of two circuits
peak. DR strategies among site partners (e.g. raising/lowering temperature set
points or running on-site generators) will be implemented during feeder peaks
with the goal of reducing peak load by 20-30% for a total of about 3.5 MW in
demand reduction. The ability or the degree to which the Jump Start program can
reduce demand, however, may be limited by the electricity rate structure in
place.
Jackie found that
Fort Collins' current electric rate emphasizes the coincident peak or the
entire system's highest peak demand within a month. The coincident peak
represents a large portion of commercial customers' electricity bills and an
incentive exists to significantly reduce demand during this period. However,
any reduction of demand during a circuit peak as well as the existence of the
rebound effect, can severely limit a commercial customer's ability to respond
during a coincident peak. Consequently, this conflicting nature that exists
between the Jump Start program's goals and the economic incentives in place
will influence DR decision-making and limit the amount of demand reduction
possible.
Jackie's research poster,
Electric rate structures and their impact on demand response decision making, may be found here (1MB PDF). Her other research interests include GIS,
energy, climate change/policy and sustainability.
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