Air Conditioner Load Management Program

Air Conditioner Load Management Program...

How does a quick $20 sound?

For a limited time we’re offering a crisp new $20 bill (actually a bill credit) for members with central air conditioning (sorry, room units don’t qualify) that enroll in our load management program.

What is Load Management ?

Your cooperative is a distribution cooperative, which means we do not produce the electricity we provide you. Currently we purchase that electricity from Alliant Energy. Alliant assesses us a monthly charge based on their systems peak demand on any given day during the month. This demand charge is then passed on to co-op members. Central air conditioners are big users of electricity. To help minimize the demand charge we utilize a device that can shutoff items such as central air conditioners for a few hours during anticipated peak usage times. The control or shutoff days and times fluctuate, but will never occur on weekends or major holidays. On average you can expect to have the air conditioner shutoff 5 to 7 times a month.

Unfortunately we don’t know when Alliant’s Peak Demand will happen so we use a best guess estimate. We’ve seen longer control times during the summer’s months due to the various contributing variables of demand usage – air conditioners, irrigation systems, garden watering, etc. We’ve found the winter months to be a bit more predictable which leads to shorter control times. The amount of interruptions will vary depending on the weather. Most likely interruption will occur during weather extremes. The ideal situation is when the extreme weather hits early in the month like it did in September. If you recall, the Tuesday after Labor Day was quite hot. That day ended up to be the only day that month we interrupted power. During what I call transition months (April, May, September & October) it generally becomes harder to predict when Alliant will reach its peak. The more consistent temperatures in those months lower the electrical consumption of the higher usage items, which make predicting Alliant’s peak usage tougher. That is why you’re seeing the extended and multiple load interruption periods at this time. A review of last year’s interruption days showed October was highest month with 11 days. As winter approaches we anticipate the hours of interruption will decrease to between 2 and 3 and the amount of days drop to 3 to 5.

To encourage members to signup for load management we’re offering a onetime $20 payment. In addition to the $20 onetime credit you would be eligible for a monthly credit for the months of May, June, July, August and September. The monthly credit is based off of the size of your air conditioner. For most central air conditioners the credit amounts to $6 per month.

To receive the $20 credit a three year commitment to load management is required.

Please call 1-800-377-2932 for more information or to sign up.