Lynne Kiesling
A bit of shameless self-promotion … this Smart Money article on Enernoc and Comverge includes a (fairly anodyne) quote from me about how demand response can enhance electric power network reliability. This concept of a “virtual power plant” is just a fancy way of saying that both electricity retailers (utilities is the old-fashioned word) and customers themselves can use energy management technology and services, particularly in response to price signals but also in response to requests from the system operator, to shift or reduce their demand in ways that reduce strains on constrained resources during peak periods or unanticipated emergencies.