On June 26, 2020, the Government of Ontario announced that it was implementing an ICI peak hiatus for ICI participants, in order to allow industrial and commercial businesses to focus on recovering from the impacts of COVID-19. As a result, large customers (i.e., Class A customers) have not had to anticipate and reduce their electricity demand during peak hours throughout the summer, as they return to full levels of operation.
Scope and
Objective
The response to the ICI decision indicates the need to collect information to better understand large customer peak load curtailment/shifting capabilities in Ontario. The IESO was asked to conduct a stakeholder engagement on behalf of the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines (ENDM) to better understand the role Distributed Energy Resources (DER) play in the Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI) and the DER capacity available in Ontario.
The engagement will place particular focus on the investment in and operation of peak modifying behind the meter strategies (i.e., behind the meter storage, generation, etc. often referred to as distributed energy resources, or DER) including load control capabilities. This will include the type and scale of investment, the revenue streams and business models of those investments and the operation before and during the ICI hiatus.
Approach
The engagement will launch with a voluntary survey for ICI participants as well as energy services companies serving these customers. Survey responses from other stakeholders are also welcomed. The IESO has engaged Ipsos to support delivery of the survey. Responses will be treated as confidential.
The IESO will provide the Ministry information collected via the survey. The IESO may publicly post a summary at the conclusion of this engagement.
The IESO is available for a select number of follow-up, confidential discussions with stakeholders in one-on-one and small group settings. Stakeholders can indicate their interest in further discussions in the survey.
All comments and enquiries in this engagement initiative can be directed to engagement@ieso.ca.
Please note that respondents are unable to save the survey once begun, so the IESO encourages respondents to review the questions (provided below) prior to beginning.
Follow up
confidential discussions with stakeholders in one-on-one and small group
settings.
Please indicate
interest within survey or contact IESO at engagement@ieso.ca
August 2020
Survey launch
The survey is available for review and completion. Respondents are encouraged to review the survey questions carefully and answer each question in as much detail as possible. Responses will be treated as confidential and any summary survey results reported publicly will be in aggregate (responses will not be attributed to individual organizations).
