Ontario IESO receives PLMA Pacesetter Program Award for building Canada’s largest residential VPP

The Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA) recognized the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (OIESO) and collaborators EnergyHub, ecobee, and Renew Home with a Pacesetter Program award on May 7th at the 49th PLMA conference in Portland, OR. 

The Award seeks to recognize outstanding programs that effectively support and deliver flexible load management. It was presented to the IESO for building Canada’s largest virtual power plant (VPP) in just six months, a period during which more than 100,000 homes joined the Save on Energy Peak Perks™ program. The VPP can deliver peak demand reduction of up to 90 MW, equivalent to taking a city the size of Kingston, Ont., off the grid during peak times.

Close coordination between the IESO, service provider EnergyHub, and partners including ecobee and Renew Home was essential to rapidly scaling the Peak Perks program. The parties worked together to maximize impressions for the program through OEM channels, optimize enrollment pages, and provide IESO with marketing recommendations and best practices. The IESO managed much of the “awareness” marketing through a combination of paid and owned social media channels.

“We are so pleased that Ontario residents are taking an active role in energy efficiency through Peak Perks,” said Tam Wagner, Director of Demand Side Management at the IESO. “Demand side management is a critical resource that can make a significant contribution to the reliability of the province’s electricity grid – especially on hot summer days when air conditioning use is at its highest – and will play an important role in ensuring long-term electricity supply matches demand in the province.”

With the involvement of more than 15 volunteer judges, all of whom are PLMA member practitioners, each award nomination is carefully evaluated by a group of industry peers using a rubric methodology. The award-winning programs demonstrate effective approaches to meeting peak energy loads while helping to support a stable, distributed energy resource (DER)-integrated electric grid. The PLMA Award Series of live webinars will be hosted from May through September 2024, and will also be published on PLMA’s YouTube channel for the benefit of energy professionals everywhere.