Demand Bidding Program (DBP)

The Demand Bidding Program (DBP) pays you an incentive to reduce your electric load according to a bid that you submit. For each event you may elect to submit or not submit a bid. If you submit a bid you can still choose not to participate without any penalty.

How It Works

For day-ahead events, you will receive an event notice by noon the first business day before the planned event. You will have until 3 p.m. on the day you receive the event notice to submit bids via InterAct, PG&E's Internet-based energy management system. PG&E will notify participants of bid acceptance by 4 p.m. the day you receive the event notice. The incentive rate is $0.50/kWh.
For day-of events, you will have one hour after receiving the event notice to submit bids via InterAct. PG&E will notify participants of bid acceptance within 15 minutes of the bid acceptance window closing. The incentive rate is $0.60/kWh.
If a participant already has accepted bids for a day-ahead event when a day-of event is issued, then the participant may: 1) increase its bids for those hours that the day-ahead event and day-of event coincide, and 2) submit new bids for those hours in the day-of event that were not part of the day-ahead event. If no adjustments to the bid are made, the participant's bid is automatically transferred to the day-of event and will be paid the higher incentive price.
Your bid must be for a minimum of two consecutive hours within the planned event window and must meet a minimum reduction of 50 kW for single sites (200 kW for aggregated group).
Your regular electric service bills will continue to be calculated each month based on your actual recorded monthly demands and energy usage.
The minimum load reduction to qualify for an incentive payment for any hour of an event is the greater of 50 percent of your accepted bid or 50 kW for single sites (200 kW for aggregated group).
The maximum compensation you will receive for any hour of an event is limited to 150 percent of your accepted bid.

Enroll Online

Enroll by submitting an application using PG&E's online enrollment system. You can also use this system to manage and track your application. Login/Enroll

Qualifying for DBP

To qualify for DBP the customer must meet all of the following requirements:

Currently be a PG&E bundled-service, Direct Access, or Community Choice Aggregation customer.
Your electric service is billed on a demand time-of-use electric rate schedule. Schedules AG-V, AG-R, and S are not eligible for this program.
Your electric Service Agreement had a billed maximum demand of 200 kW or greater during any one of the past 12 billing months.
You must have an e-mail address and Internet access.
Must have an alphanumeric pager or a cell phone that is capable of receiving text messages.
Not participating in PG&E's Base Interruptible Program (BIP) Option B, PG&E's Capacity Bidding Program (CBP), the California ISO's Participating Load Program, any PG&E sponsored non-tariff demand response program, or any other pay for performance program.
Service Agreements under 200 kW can enroll as part of an aggregated group provided 1) at least one Service Agreement has a maximum demand of at least 200 kW within the past 12 months, and 2) each Service Agreement takes service from PG&E under the same federal tax identification number.

Equipment Requirements

Your facility must have an electric interval meter that can be read remotely by PG&E.
If you are over 200 kW (50 kW per sites for an aggregated group) and a bundled or Community Choice Aggregation customer but do not have an interval electric meter that can be read remotely by PG&E, we will install one at no cost to you provided you meet the minimum program requirements and agree to remain in the program for at least one full year.
If you are a Direct Access customer but do not have an electric interval meter that can be read remotely by PG&E, please contact your electric service provider and see the DBP tariff (PDF, 157 KB) for additional details.

Incentives

For accepted bids, you will receive a credit that is equal to the product of the qualified energy reduction and the incentive rate. The incentive rate is $0.50/kWh for day-ahead events and $0.60/kWh for day-of events.
Your energy reduction will be determined as the difference between a baseline and your actual energy usage during the event. The baseline is determined on an hour-by-hour basis using the average energy for the three highest total energy usage days out of the 10 similar days prior to the DBP event.

Additional Information

For more information about how your business can benefit from our demand response programs, contact your PG&E Account Representative or call PG&E at 1-800-468-4743.

Tariff Information

Please review the tariff (PDF, 156 KB) for this program carefully, as it contains additional details not provided here.

Pacific Gas & Electric - PG&E