Load Management
Load Management System - LMS
Dairyland Power is Clark Electric Cooperative's wholesale power supplier, providing our cooperative iwth the energy required to meet your energy needs. Clark Electric Cooperative and Dairyland Power Cooperative collaborate on strategies to best increase efficiencies and decrease costs for the benefit of our members.
Traditionally, Dairyland's load management program functioned primarily to reduce energy consumption during periods of peak demand, mainly as a way to reliably meet member energy needs while curbing costs. The original goal still stands: Load Management remains a tool used to balance the demand for electricity with the ability to generate or economically purchase electricity. Dairyland and its member cooperatives save money by deferring the need to construct additional power plants or purchase expensive power during periods of high demand.
How Does The Load Management Program Work?
Through Clark Electric Cooperative's wholesale power supplier, Dairyland Power Cooperative, we heave long participated in an energy - and money - saving program called Load Management. The program offers benefits to cooperative members who agree to reduce their energy usage during times of peak demand, high energy prices or during system problems such as a generator outage.
Dairyland estimates the load management program reduces its system peak by approximately 70 megawatts (MW) in the summer and 140 MW in the winter...the equivalent size of a small power plant. It has done so by reducing total demand during peak use hours, generally between 3 and 9 pm, when people are commonly at home running washers, dryers, dishwashers, air conditioners, heaters and so on. During the warm weather months of June, July and August, Clark Electric Cooperative asks our members to do the summer shift and try to reduce energy demand between the hours of 11 am and 7 pm.
Some Load Management loads that we are able to control are: air conditioners, water heaters, electric heating applications (duel fuel and storage heat). By signing up for Load Management, you get a direct savings as well as help the cooperative save on our wholesale bill, which in turn helps reduce everyone's power bill.
For more information on the Load Management Program or to sign up please contact our office.