The Empire District Electric Company Oklahoma demand-side portfolio report, 2011

              Submitted June 1, 2012
The Empire District Electric Co
THE EMPIRE DISTRICT ELECTRIC COMPANY
OKLAHOMA 2011 DEMAND-SIDE PORTFOLIO REPORT
Introduction
The current demand-side portfolio for The Empire District Electric Company (“Empire”) received final approval from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (“Commission”) on January 8, 2010. This approved portfolio consisted of two Residential programs: Low-Income Weatherization (“Weatherization”), Central Air Conditioner Tune-up and Replacement (“CAC”); and two Commercial/Industrial programs: Commercial & Industrial Prescriptive (“C&I”), and Interruptible Program (“IR”). The first three programs are considered energy efficiency programs and will be covered in this report. The last program, the Interruptible program, is a demand response program and per OAC 165:35-41-7(b) should be in a separate report. No customers chose to participate in the IR program, so the budget will be presented in this report and there will not be a separate demand response report for the 2011 program year.
Empire serves approximately 4,727 electric customers in portions of Ottawa, Craig, and Delaware counties. This represents about 2.8% of Empire’s electric customers.
Demand Response Programs
The Interruptible program was approved with an annual budget of $47,125 and an estimated participation level of two customers per year with a combined curtailment load of 3,000 kWh. The program has failed to produce a single participant likely due to the lack of customers in Empire’s Oklahoma service territory with significant load that has the ability to be curtailed.
Energy Efficiency Programs
The CAC program was approved with an annual budget of $13,850 and an estimated participation level of 27 customers. In 2011, Empire issued rebates for two AC tune-ups and three AC replacements. Program year 2011 was near identical to program year 2010 in which Empire issued rebates for two AC tune-ups and two AC replacements.
The C&I program was approved with an annual budget of $31,000 and an estimated participation level of 13 customers. Empire received no rebate requests in 2011 and has only approved a single C&I rebate which was issued for a project in late 2010.
The Weatherization program is a joint effort involving Empire and the Northeast Oklahoma Community Action Agency (NEOCAA) to provide financial assistance for low-income weatherization efforts in Empire’s Oklahoma service territory. In 2011, three homes were weatherized using Empire’s weatherization funds. Currently, Empire’s Energy Efficiency Coordinator is finalizing a new contract with the NEOCAA to allow more funds to be used per home at the request of the Weatherization Manager of the NEOCAA.