Don McLean is Vice President, Demand Response, at Energy Advantage. He has seen many changes and developments during his thirty years in the energy industry. This year he is also hoping to watch the Montreal Canadiens take the Stanley cup.

Newsletter:As Co-ordinator for Energy Advantage’s Demand Response program, you were heavily involved in helping Sobeys Ontario participate successfully in last month’s Earth Hour event. Can you tell us what role Energy Advantage played in making this happen?
Don:The Demand Response program relies on a Micro Thermo Technologies control system. In-store controllers continuously monitor a central server housed at the Micro Thermo head office. For Earth Hour, Energy Advantage sent a signal via the Internet which put the system into load-shed mode. We were able to monitor the system from our office. We also visited two local stores to confirm the proper operation of the system. By the way, to date we have gotten very positive feedback from store personnel and shoppers regarding the program.

Newsletter:Early results from Toronto Hydro suggest that during Earth Hour energy use in the city was reduced by 264 MW for the hour, which is the equivalent of 175,000 households’ energy use. But for Sobeys, participation in Earth Hour was only the beginning of an enhanced energy management program and we understand that in future, with the new Demand Response program, they will regularly be reducing lighting in their stores. How is this going to work and what are the advantages for companies who participate in DR programs?
Don:The current Ontario Power Authority DR1 program is triggered by a price signal from the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). The participant submits the Strike Price at which they are willing to curtail and if the 3 hour-ahead price exceeds that level, the participant has the opportunity to load-shed. The OPA will then pay the participant for the capacity made available at the Strike Price rate. The load-shed is triggered by high spot prices, which reflect high demand in the province. The idea of Demand Response is to make capacity available to the grid when it is needed most.

Newsletter:You have been working at Energy Advantage for ten years now and during this period have seen the emergence and development of DR programs. What have been the significant changes that you have seen happening in DR programs during this period?
Don:Demand Response in Ontario really took off with the OPA’s release of the DR1 program in 2006. The DR1 program is very user friendly and represents a good venue for companies to build demand response capability. The OPA’s new DR3 program is interesting in that it places greater emphasis on reliability, but in turn offers a much more lucrative incentive.

In US jurisdictions such as California and New York, Demand Response has been very successful. High electricity prices and well-designed incentive programs have encouraged participation.

Modern control systems, the Internet, and cell/pager communication has made demand response accessible to the broadest range of electricity users – from the homeowner up to the large industrial.

Newsletter:What challenges do you see ahead for DR programs? How can OPA etc continue to attract customers to their DR programs?
Don:In Ontario, I believe the only threat to DR is continued government influence over electricity spot prices. The Provincial Benefit and OPG Rebate have the effect of keeping Ontario electricity prices artificially low. Low electricity prices tend to discourage demand side participation in the electricity market. With a competitive electricity market, DR will thrive.

Newsletter:Your career in the energy industry long precedes your DR responsibilities at Energy Advantage. Can you tell us a little bit about how you started in the energy industry and how your experience influenced you to start working specifically in the field of energy management?
Don:I started out on the upstream side of the energy business, working with the oilfield services company Schlumberger. Initially I worked at drill-sites in Alberta and Saskatchewan. I was then transferred to St. John’s, Newfoundland to work offshore. The Hibernia discovery well had just been drilled the summer before, so it was a very exciting time. Later with Schlumberger I had assignments in the Middle East and the North Sea.

From Schlumberger I went back to school to get an MBA. After graduating, I was in Calgary and happened to read a Globe and Mail newspaper article regarding the newly deregulated natural gas market in Ontario, which quoted Rob Kirkby, then President of a new company named Eastern Canada Natural Gas Brokers. I met Rob and his business partner Bob Hyde for lunch, went to work for them the next day, and have now been working with them for almost twenty years – first at ECNG and now at Energy Advantage.

While my career started on the upstream side, it has now moved to the opposite end of the energy spectrum – the downstream side, working with energy end-users in areas such as energy reporting and analysis, energy efficiency projects, and demand response.

Newsletter:Now that you have been in the energy industry for 30 years, what significant changes have you seen in those years and what do you expect to happen in the next 30 years?
Don:In the last few years there has been such an explosion in technology; and through the Internet such greater access to data and information. Energy users have so many issues to consider, and so many options. We have access to so much data now. But you really have to think about what to do with that data. The energy business continually becomes more complex. In the future, higher prices and environmental issues will mean energy remains an important aspect in our lives.