In December 2014, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued Decision (D.) 14-12-024 (PDF, 1.8 MB) which requires Southern California Edison Company, San Diego Gas & Electric Company and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) (collectively, the IOUs) to design and implement the Demand Response Auction Mechanism (DRAM) Request for Offers (RFO) pilot for 2016 and 2017 capacity (called the 2016 DRAM and 2017 DRAM, respectively). Then D. 16-06-029 (PDF, 842 KB) instructed the IOUs to conduct a 2018-2019 DRAM pilot, and D. 17-10-017 (PDF, 878 KB) instructed the IOUs to conduct an additional 2019 DRAM pilot. Following the evaluation of the initial DRAM pilots (Final DRAM Evaluation Report (PDF, 78 MB)) and subsequent workshops, the CPUC issued D.19-07-009 (PDF, 1.1 MB), as modified by D.19-09-041 (PDF, 437 KB), which authorizes an auction to take place in 2019 for deliveries between June 2020 and December 2020 (“2020 DRAM”), as well as annual auctions for deliveries in 2021, 2022, and 2023.


The 2020 DRAM implementation proposal was submitted on August 12, 2019 via PG&E Advice Letter 5615-E (PDF, 3.4 MB). Modifications to DRAM contracts and related documents were submitted on September 17, 2019, with Supplemental Advice Letter 5615-E-A (PDF, 3.1 MB). On September 26, 2019, the Commission approved Advice Letter 5615-E and Supplemental Advice Letter 5615E-A via Disposition Letter.


The 2020 DRAM is a pay-as-bid solicitation where PG&E is seeking monthly demand response (DR) system capacity and flexible capacity. Sellers will bid aggregated demand response directly into the CAISO day-ahead energy market, and PG&E will acquire the capacity, but will have no claim on revenues the winning bidders may receive from the energy market. The DR resources are required to bid into the CAISO energy market under the CAISO must-offer obligation for DR.

PG&E's expected schedule for the 2020 DRAM RFO

EventDate

PG&E Issues 2020 DRAM RFO

10/11/19

DRAM RFO Bidders' Webinar, 10 AM (PPT)

10/18/19

DRAM RFO offer package due by 1:00 PM (PPT)

11/07/19

PG&E requests that Bidders modify certain non-conforming Offers (Request to "cure")

11/11/19

Bidder cure period ends

11/18/19

PG&E notifies Bidders of selection and sends final PA for execution

12/10/19

Advice letter filing for executed PAs

1/10/20

2020 DRAM RFO Protocols and Documents




Power Advocate Registration Information and Instructions


All Bidders who are interested in submitting a bid package into PG&E's DRAM RFO will need to register with Power Advocate before submitting an offer into the RFO. To register at Power Advocate, click on the following link:


https://www.poweradvocate.com


Only those bidders that have been accepted through the Power Advocate platform will be permitted to bid into this RFO. We encourage you to register now.


The following link provides instructions on how to use Power Advocate:
Power advocate instructions (PDF, 473 KB)



2020 DRAM RFO Bidders' Webinar


The IOUs held a joint 2020 DRAM Bidders’ Webinar at 10 am PPT on October 18, 2019.



Scheduling Coordinator Information


As part of DRAM, the IOUs issued a Scheduling Coordinator (SC) Request for Information (RFI) from Scheduling Coordinators (SC) open to providing SC services to demand response aggregators. SC information received from this RFI is provided here, with updates provided by the SCs as available: Scheduling Coordinator Request for Information Packets (PDF, 1.53 MB).



CAISO Bidding Information



DRAM Sellers providing capacity to PG&E will need to register their Proxy Demand Resources (PDR) at the CAISO. An initial step of this process is to input customer location information into the CAISO Demand Response Registration System. PG&E requires that Sellers obtain customer authority to access historical and ongoing customer specific information, which is needed for this CAISO registration process and for energy settlements.


Electric Rule 24 (PDF, 3.3 MB) (Rule 24) governs how PG&E interacts with third party demand response providers (DRPs), including DRAM Sellers. The Commission, in D.15-03-042 (PDF, 600 KB), authorized PG&E to put into place certain processes and systems to facilitate a third party DRP's ability to bid PDR and RDRR into the wholesale market. This Decision establishes process timeframes and volume limits which pertain to Rule 24 implementation. PG&E has implemented projects to support 75,000 Rule 24 third party DRP locations under its most recent CPUC authorization. PG&E recently received approval to accommodate a total of 200,000 Rule 24 third party DRP locations. PG&E will soon initiate work to enable this increased capacity, and PG&E’s existing systems will be able to accommodate a moderate level of registration volumes exceeding the currently implemented 75,000 registration step. PG&E considers this 200,000 registration level sufficient to support the extension of DRAM through 2023, including this 2020 DRAM RFO. These registration numbers are dynamic, and do not serve to limit bid evaluation and selection.


Rule 24 requires that DRAM Sellers submit a Customer Information Service Request for Demand Response Providers (CISR-DRP) as defined in Rule 24. This includes Form 79-1152, available on the DRAM website, or through PG&E’s electronic authorization “click-through” process.


The links below provide the steps necessary for DRAM Sellers to obtain customer data:



For more information, please refer to PG&E’s Rule 24 website for third party Demand Response Providers.





Other Information





Frequently Asked Questions




Contact & Registration Information


For information or questions about PG&E's DRAM RFO please email: DRAMRFO@pge.com and the Independent Evaluator at waynejoliver26@gmail.com and kjoliver33@gmail.com.


You may register to receive or unsubscribe from email notifications on PG&E's DRAM RFO using the following link: Registration Link.