Storyline of Design Slam Scenario
The Desert City of Nowhere Nation, with 99% sunlight per year voted to create a publicly owned utility with a dual mission:
1. Provide reliable favorable power rates to its member-consumers
2. Encourage sustainable, low carbon power generation and consumption - goal is 100% green energy usage
Note, only 50% of the city (the newer development) has smart meters installed. The older half of town does not have smart meters installed, but gets more sun, so there could be an incentive to install more smart meters. You must have a smart meter to be eligible to consume power from the public power plant. Otherwise you have to take the set rate from the Grid utility.
Our community can generate 1 MW (?) of power at peak production during maximum sunlight. During a hot day on a week day with all the air conditioners running and business running, our community has historically used up to 1.5 MW (?) of power. Anytime the community has to consume power from the grid, it comes from really dirty coal-fired power plants and we have to pay really high rates for this imported power.
There is not a subsidized purchase rate for green power produced.
Question: Do you have to be a producer in order to be eligible to be a consumer from this power plant?
Do we give favorable rates to those who only consume their own power?
How do we get over capital investment requirement for getting producers set up?
Roles Identified:
- Public Utility Entity
- Resident consumers
- Resident producers
- Business consumers
- Business producers
*Note: producers and consumers can be the same phyusical person
Installers and suppliers to this power plant such as solar cell installers, smart meter installers
- Tax authorities
- Federal / state authorities
- Insurance
- Financing organizations
Processes identified
1. Bringing new producer online
2. Adding to smart meters / grid
3. Bringing consumers online
4. Billing / reconciliation of producer / consumers
5. Sign up for rate plan and demand management rules
6. Real time feedback of High Demand Situations - opportunity for consumer optimization or automation kicks in
7. Consumer / Producer optimizes rate plan and demand management rules