Financial Opportunities by Implementing Renewable Sources and Storage Devices for Households Under ERCOT Demand Response Programs Design

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) launched a nodal market in December 2010, aiming at benefiting customers who are willing to curtail or shift their loads to help improve system reliability. Demand response (DR) programs may stimulate users to change their electricity consumption patterns based on electricity prices and incentives. Senate Bill 1125 allows residential and commercial class customers to participate in DR programs alongside industrial customers while reliability standards are maintained. By effectively utilizing renewable sources and energy storage devices, household electricity bills might be reduced since the purchase of electricity, particularly when the price is relatively high, can be replaced by either renewable resources or electricity from energy storage devices. This paper presents different scenarios of implementing photovoltaic systems and Li-based batteries under ERCOT's DR program design for a household in order to reap financial benefits. A typical Texas residential load profile and the locational marginal prices information of ERCOT's real-time market are applied to optimize battery capacity and total revenue. Finally, the calculation results illustrate that by participating in the DR programs, residential users are able to obtain financial benefits.