Turn Energy Curtailment Into a New Revenue Stream

Energy costs are typically seen as an unavoidable expense—but what if your facility could actually earn money by strategically reducing its usage?

That’s the idea behind Demand Response programs. When the power grid is under strain, utilities and grid operators call on participating businesses to temporarily reduce their energy consumption. In return, they offer financial incentives that can turn your ability to curtail load into a new revenue stream.

What Is Demand Response?

Demand Response (DR) is a grid-support program that rewards large energy users for reducing electricity consumption during periods of high demand.

Instead of building more generation to cover peak hours, utilities and grid operators look for ways to temporarily lower demand. Facilities that can safely and reliably reduce load become valuable partners—and they get paid for that flexibility.

Common DR events may be triggered by:

  • Extreme temperatures driving up air conditioning or heating loads

  • Unexpected outages or supply constraints

  • Regional reliability concerns during peak demand

Your participation helps support grid stability—and you get compensated for it.

How Participation Works

One of the biggest advantages of Demand Response is its flexibility. Participation is designed to be practical and low-risk for facilities that have to keep operations running smoothly.

Here’s what it typically looks like:

Advance Notice

Facilities are notified one to two weeks in advance of scheduled test events. For actual grid events, notice may be shorter, but you still have clear communication about timing and expectations.

You Choose When It Makes Sense to Respond

You’re only expected to participate when it makes operational sense. If an event conflicts with critical production or other constraints, you can sit it out.

There is no penalty for non-performance in many program structures, which keeps the risk low and the upside attractive.

Ways to Curtail Load

Curtailment can be achieved in several ways, depending on your facility’s capabilities and comfort:

  • Manual shutdown of non-essential equipment

  • Adjusting setpoints or schedules for HVAC or process loads

  • Temporarily reducing production in non-critical lines

  • Utilizing backup generation, if available and permitted

The goal is to reduce your net demand on the grid during the event window—without compromising safety or core operations.

How Revenue Potential Is Calculated

Your facility’s earning potential in a Demand Response program is often linked to its Peak Load Contribution (PLC).

PLC is typically defined as:

Your average demand during the five highest grid peak hours from the previous summer.

This value helps determine how much capacity your facility is considered to provide when it curtails. In many programs, the higher your PLC (and the more load you can shed during events), the greater your potential earnings.

Demand Response can become especially valuable if:

  • You have flexible processes or non-critical loads that can be turned down

  • You operate backup generation that can be dispatched during events

  • You can reduce load without major disruption to your core operations

For some organizations, DR doesn’t just offset energy costs—it becomes a meaningful new revenue line.

Beyond Revenue: Additional Benefits

While the financial incentives are compelling, Demand Response can also help your organization:

  • Deepen operational insight into where and how your facility uses energy

  • Strengthen resilience by improving understanding of your load and backup capabilities

  • Support sustainability goals by reducing usage during curtailment

Participation positions your organization as a proactive partner in grid reliability and responsible energy use.

Explore Your Facility’s Demand Response Potential with Viridi

Every facility is different—your processes, equipment, schedules, and constraints all influence how much load you can curtail and what your revenue potential looks like.

Viridi helps you:

  • Evaluate your curtailment opportunities

  • Estimate potential DR revenue based on your load profile and PLC

  • Design curtailment strategies that work with your operations

If you’re curious what Demand Response could mean for your organization, we’re here to help you quantify it.

Interested in learning how much your facility could earn? Contact Viridi to request a customized Demand Response revenue estimate.