California passed two bills encouraging facilities to reduce energy demand and costs to operate air-conditioning systems.

The state Legislature passed Senate Bill 1790 that provides for the development of air-conditioning load control programs as a way to improve electric supply and to reduce electric bills. A second measure, Senate Bill 1976, directs the state Public Utilities Commission to report by the end of March on the feasibility of instituting real-time pricing for electricity in the state. The governor has signed both measures.

The Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI), a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing HVAC manufacturers, heralded the new laws, saying this logic is in line with the thermal storage industry.

Real-time pricing allows facilities to take advantage of lower electricity rates by employing off-peak cooling technologies that are used with thermal energy storage systems, says Denise Beach, spokeswoman for ARI.

Thermal energy storage systems make chilled water or ice at night, when rates are lower, to provide chilled water used in air-conditioning systems the next day.

The legislation is expected to give the thermal energy storage business a boost in California. estimates that the 28 chilled water storage tanks his company has installed in California shift 65 megawatts of power consumption from on-peak to off-peak hours.

California found that air-conditioning loads constitute 28 percent of the state’s peak electricity demand, the largest single component of peak demand.

Rich Kooy of Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (CB&I), a maker of thermal storage systems, says he hopes that the 28 percent finding raises awareness of off-peak cooling opportunities for demand management in California, and prompts other states to look at how much peak electric demand is attributable to comfort cooling.

— Mike Lobash



First published April, 2003