New Mexico Public Regulation Commission approves demand response program

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC) recently granted El Paso Electric Company’s (EPE) request for expedited approval of its Demand Response Pilot Program.

The program encourages consumers to reduce their electricity use during peak demand hours or in other peak conditions, such as unusually hot summer days.

Up to 3,000 qualified residential and small general service customers will be accepted to the program on a voluntary basis. In order to qualify, utility customers must have central refrigerated air conditioning controlled by a smart thermostat.

Through the eSmart Thermostat Program, EPE will use the smart thermostats to control air conditioning during Demand Response events.

The program will run for three demand response seasons for New Mexico customers located in Doña Ana, Sierra, Otero and Luna counties and customers in west Texas. Demand response seasons begin on June 1 and end on Sept. 30 each year.

Customers who participate in the program will receive a one-time enrollment bonus of $125 and a yearly incentive of $25.

NMPRC approved the program without a formal hearing in order to expedite the process so that EPE could recruit participants in time for the demand response season. EPE will launch a marketing campaign by late March 2017 in order to register potential customers by June 1.