Oklahoma Gas and Electric has selected an end-to-end demand response solution to expand its pioneering, smart grid-based peak-reduction programs to all customers in its service territory. OGE is the first utility to deploy a price-response program that exclusively runs on its smart grid network without the need for redundant networking technologies. OGE intends to leverage the energy efficiencies achieved through its demand response program and integration of wind power to achieve its goal of avoiding the building of fossil-fueled generation plants until at least 2020. With this roll-out, Silver Spring Networks is the first smart grid platform provider to have its standards-based smart grid network leveraged for deploying demand response throughout a utility’s entire service territory.

OGE’s decision to expand its DR program to all customers in its territory is the culmination of four years of work with Silver Spring and analysis of the results from several pilot programs. Throughout the project, OGE has focused on price-based DR, in which higher prices for energy during peak demand and lower prices in off-peak times incent customers to shift usage to off peak. OGE’s program is paving the way for a new approach to DR, one driven by customer choice rather than direct utility control. In last summer’s pilot, 98% of participating customers saved money and they reduced their peak energy use 12% to 35% using various in-home technologies. OGE’s goal is to make an estimated 70 MW of load available for peak reduction next summer. Scaling this DR deployment to all customers highlights the confidence OGE has in both the effectiveness of the Silver Spring demand response solution needed for residential peak reduction and the device interoperability enabled by the ZigBee Smart Energy Profile specification.

The performance of the Silver Spring network has been instrumental in OGE’s ability to deploy DR throughout its service territory. Consistent meter reachability and high-performance networking have delivered the successful interval reading essential to enabling time-of-use readings. Focusing on industry standards such as an end-to-end IPv6 networking platform and ZigBee Smart Energy Profile has enabled an ecosystem of partners.