In New York State, the default electricity pricing for large customers is Mandatory Hourly Pricing (MHP), which is charged based on zonal day-ahead market price for energy. With MHP, retail customers can adjust their building load to an economically optimal level according to hourly electricity prices. Yet, many customers seek alternative pricing options such as fixed rates through retail access for their electricity supply. Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR) is an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) based information exchange model that communicates price and reliability information. It allows customers to evaluate hourly prices and provide demand response in an automated fashion to minimize electricity costs. This document shows how OpenADR can support MHP and facilitate price responsive demand for large commercial customers in New York City.

Open Automated Demand Response (OpenADR), an XML-based information exchange model, is used to facilitate continuous price-responsive operation and demand response participation for large commercial buildings in New York who are subject to the default day-ahead hourly pricing. We summarize the existing demand response programs in New York and discuss OpenADR communication, prioritization of demand response signals, and control methods. Building energy simulation models are developed and field tests are conducted to evaluate continuous energy management and demand response capabilities of two commercial buildings in New York City. Preliminary results reveal that providing machine-readable prices to commercial buildings can facilitate both demand response participation and continuous energy cost savings. Hence, efforts should be made to develop more sophisticated algorithms for building control systems to minimize customer's utility bill based on price and reliability information from the electricity grid.