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City Light’s Weis to Deliver Keynote for Smart Grid Northwest

Seattle City Light General Manager and CEO Larry Weis will give the keynote address at Smart Grid Northwest’s annual meeting Sept. 27 in Seattle as a kickoff to the industry organization’s Demand Response Symposium Sept. 28.
Photo of Larry Weis.

City Light General Manager and CEO Larry Weis

Seattle City Light General Manager and CEO Larry Weis will give the keynote address at Smart Grid Northwest’s annual meeting Sept. 27 in Seattle as a kickoff to the industry organization’s Demand Response Symposium Sept. 28.

Weis will discuss the various grid modernization efforts City Light has completed and those that are underway, including the recent start of installations for the communications network to support advanced metering. Weis also will discuss how these efforts are allowing the utility to more effectively engage with customers. 

The Symposium features over 40 local and national demand response experts explaining how to improve the efficiency and resiliency of the electrical grid for Northwest companies and consumers by leveraging flexible demand side resources. It is targeted for leaders at regional utilities who want to learn more about developing and implementing demand response.

Smart Grid Northwest is hosting the Demand Response Symposium in collaboration with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and dozens of other regional utilities, demand response providers, and other stakeholders. This symposium will also include the participation of the Pacific Northwest Demand Response Project, which since 2005 has been the primary forum for researchers, regulators, and utilities to share information, build best practices, and overcome barriers to demand response in the Northwest. The NW Planning Council is accelerating work in this topic area with the start of regular meetings for the Demand Response Advisory Council.

Demand response improves the efficiency and resiliency of the electrical grid by reducing peak demand, shifting loads so energy generation and use align better, and complementing supply side resources, including variable ones like wind and solar power. Demand response resources provide the energy system with flexibility, which can go beyond the reduction of peak usage and can include higher system utilization, deferred or reduced energy and/or infrastructure energy investments, and a stronger ability to integrate distributed resources. As a result, DR is often a least-cost solution for meeting peak power and other energy and capacity demands in the future. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Seventh Power Plan, issued earlier this year, recommends that at least 600 megawatts of demand response be implemented to meet the region’s power needs.

“We are excited to have a sold out event on the important topic of demand response, “stated Bryce Yonker Smart Grid NW Executive Director. “The region is well positioned to learn from the significant efforts that have happened across the country and expand flexible demand side resources.”

About Smart Grid Northwest

Smart Grid Northwest is a trade association with a mission to promote, grow, and enable the smart grid industry and infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest. The association nurtures an environment that encourages smart grid industries to thrive and promotes the deployment of smart grid solutions across the Northwest. It does this through educational events and publications, advocacy for regional public policies, and programs that drive implementation of smart grid concepts and technologies. Learn more at www.smartgridnw.org.

 

About Seattle City Light

Seattle City Light is the 10th largest public electric utility in the United States. It has some of the lowest cost customer rates of any urban utility, providing reliable, renewable and environmentally responsible power to about 750,000 Seattle area residents. City Light has been greenhouse gas neutral since 2005, the first electric utility in the nation to achieve that distinction.