Demand Side Management
Get paid to reduce your load — without a full-time energy manager to make it happen.
Texas utilities offer demand response programs that pay commercial businesses to curtail electricity usage during peak summer periods. Most of the market focuses on large industrials. We focus on everyone else.
What This Service Is
Demand response programs compensate commercial customers for voluntarily reducing their electricity consumption during periods of peak grid demand — primarily summer afternoons and evenings in Texas when the ERCOT grid is under stress. In exchange for agreeing to curtail load when called upon, participating businesses receive payments from their utility or retail supplier.
Most people associate demand response with large industrial facilities — manufacturers, refineries, data centers — that can curtail megawatts of load on short notice. Those customers are largely already served by a handful of specialized vendors who dominate that space, and for accounts that can curtail with 5–15 minutes notice at that scale, we'd point you in their direction.
Where we focus is the underserved middle: commercial businesses that can curtail 100 kW or more and participate in the utility summer demand response programs that don't require the operational complexity or infrastructure of industrial-scale curtailment. This is a genuine gap in the market — most brokers and demand response vendors either ignore this segment or aren't set up to serve it well.
Who This Is For
If your facility has any of the following, demand response is worth a conversation:
HVAC systems that can be cycled or set back for 1–2 hour windows without significant occupant impact
Lighting loads that can be reduced during non-critical periods
Refrigeration or cold storage with enough thermal mass to tolerate brief setbacks
Manufacturing or process loads with any flexibility in scheduling
Any operation where peak demand during summer afternoons is not operationally critical
The threshold for most utility summer programs in Texas is 100 kW of curtailable load — a realistic target for a wide range of commercial facilities that have never been approached about participation.
What Alden Brings to the Table
We identify whether your facility qualifies, walk you through what participation actually looks like in practice — including how often curtailment events are called and what the operational ask really is — and handle the enrollment process. We give you an honest assessment of whether the payments justify any operational adjustment before you commit to anything.
We also look at demand response in the context of your overall energy strategy. Reducing peak load compounds the benefit of a good procurement contract — it lowers both your energy cost and your TDSP demand charges simultaneously.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often are curtailment events actually called?
It varies by program and by summer conditions. Some years see relatively few events; others more. We'll walk you through the historical frequency for the specific program before you enroll so you know what you're signing up for.
What happens if we can't curtail when called?
It depends on the program structure. Some have penalties for non-performance; others simply reduce or eliminate payment for that event. We'll make sure you understand the obligations before enrolling.
How are payments structured?
Most utility summer demand response programs pay based on demonstrated curtailment — the difference between your baseline usage and actual usage during an event, multiplied by a payment rate. We'll show you what the economics look like for your specific load profile.
What about demand response for natural gas?
Gas curtailment programs exist but are less common for the commercial segment we primarily serve. We'll flag it if it's relevant to your situation.
We're already working with a demand response vendor — should we still talk? Possibly. If your current arrangement covers large industrial curtailment, there may still be utility summer program opportunities that aren't being captured. It's worth a quick conversation to find out.
