EPS Corp announced that the Automated Demand Response (Auto-DR) program which it designed and implemented for California Dairies, Inc. (CDI), the leading dairy cooperative in California and the second largest in the United States, successfully shed more than 3.3 MW (megawatts) of power demand at the company’s Visalia and Artesia facilities, exceeding the load reduction targets specified by Southern California Edison (SCE). Both projects were completed on schedule and with minimal impact on the company’s production.

CDI’s Auto-DR participation covers primary production equipment on CDI’s powdered milk and butter production lines, including evaporators, separators and dryers, and supporting utility systems, such as compressed air, refrigeration and wastewater treatment. EPS designed and implemented a state of the art automation system that enables CDI to control key production systems, reduce its electrical use during demand response periods, and better manage energy consumption during regular production periods. This project was implemented under Southern California Edison’s Auto Demand Response program by which California Dairies qualified for an incentive of up to $300 per kW shed for automation, which covered 100 percent of the cost of the project.

“We are very pleased with the Auto-DR system that EPS implemented at our Visalia and Artesia facilities,” said the vice president of Engineering at California Dairies. “With EPS’ technology and excellent program management, the Auto DR system implementation was smooth and enabled us to exceed the load shed targets during the final test in the presence of a third party inspector. More importantly, we are now in a position to participate in future demand response events more consistently and manage our electrical demand more effectively.”

With this latest success, EPS Corp has now achieved more than 43 MW of electrical load reduction at industrial customers in California and across the country through Demand Response and Auto-DR programs. Over the last three years, EPS has helped implement and successfully execute auto-demand response capabilities at a wide range of industrial facilities, including manufacturers of food and dairy products, medical devices, plastics, industrial gases, metals, cement, asphalt, packaging and ice. In each case, the companies were able to reduce their energy load and realize the financial benefits from utility incentives.

“We are pleased to have delivered strong results in the Auto-DR program for California Dairies”, added Jay Zoellner, chief executive officer of EPS Corp. “This success, along with the many other Auto-DR projects we have implemented, further highlights EPS’s continued leadership role in industrial energy reduction and demand response. Faced with the risk of electric rates that can exceed $1.25 per kWh during critical peak pricing events, it really is in the best interest of any manufacturing company with registered demands of 200kW or more to have EPS automate their demand response capabilities.”

Auto-DR is an SCE sponsored program that enables customers with automated load control systems, such as energy management systems, to participate in demand response events without manual intervention and realize significant financial incentives and technical support as a result. The equipment to enable participation is remotely activated via the Internet upon receiving event or price signals from the utility. The program’s flexibility allows industrial customers to preselect their level of participation and gives them the ability to override Auto-DR signals or revise their load reduction strategy at their discretion. By participating, the companies help SCE reduce the demand load on the grid during critical peak periods.