Bonneville Power Administration Transmission Business Line Olympic Peninsula Demand Reduction Pilot Project

The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the impact of the Olympic Peninsula Demand Reduction Pilot and to make recommendations for improving the program. The pilot program was run to investigate if voluntary load reduction and voluntary generation had the potential for deferring an upgrade to the transmission lines serving the Olympic Peninsula. In this evaluation customers were asked for their opinion on how the program was run and how it could be improved, if they would provide more generation or load reduction, and if they would provide that capacity in extremely cold weather. The evaluation methodology included both a load analysis and interviews of participants and non participants. We found that customers will participate under normal weather conditions and if it fits into their normal maintenance schedule, but that in extreme conditions they are far less likely to participate. It is also clear that, if the objectives of the program are to be met, a different mechanism is required to achieve the participation when the system needs it most. BPA will use these results to make changes to the Olympic Peninsula Demand Reduction Program so that they can achieve the demand reductions when needed.