Automated Demand Response Technologies and Demonstration in New York City using OpenADR

Demand response (DR) — allowing customers to respond to reliability requests and market prices by changing electricity use from their normal consumption pattern — continues to be seen as an attractive means of demand-side management and a fundamental smart-grid improvement that links supply and demand. Since October 2011, the Demand Response Research Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority have conducted a demonstration project enabling Automated Demand Response (Auto-DR) in large commercial buildings located in New York City using Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR) communication protocols. In particular, this project focuses on demonstrating how OpenADR can automate and simplify interactions between buildings and various stakeholders in New York State including the independent system operator, utilities, retail energy providers, and curtailment service providers. In this paper, we present methods to automate control strategies via building management systems to provide event-driven demand response, price response and demand management based on OpenADR signals. We also present cost control opportunities under day-ahead hourly pricing for large customers and Auto-DR control strategies developed for demonstration buildings. Lastly, we discuss the communication architecture and Auto-DR system designed for the demonstration project to automate price response and DR participation.