Physical/Economic Analysis of Industrial Demand

Physically based models of the demand for electricity of industrial customers provide insight into what types of production schedules are feasible and how rescheduling will change the load shape. Physical models can be combined with economic analysis to analyze a variety of issues related to electric rates, load management, the cost of outages, etc. For example, the reduction in the monthly electric cost due to rescheduling of a production process can be compared with the extra cost incurred due to wage differentials. One key tool is shown to be the comparison of the kW per person of a production process with the "breakeven kW per person" of the firm as determined by the rate and firm's usage pattern. Two electric rates are explicitly analyzed as examples; a declining block rate and a time of day rate.