HUNT Dimming, the Fort Collins, CO-based lighting controls manufacturer, has announced its Simplicity™ Series Digital Dimming Systems now have Demand Response capabilities, offering a variable load-shedding strategy for interior building lighting. This available feature of the Simplicity Series Dimming System addresses the desire of large energy users to avoid peak time-of-day rates, as well as participate in utility-sponsored rate reduction programs offered to them in exchange for load-shedding commitments which lower user electricity costs and conserve energy.
Proprietary software incorporated in the Simplicity Series Digital Dimming Panels allows for lighting system designs where load-shedding control is: directly administered by the utility (Automated Demand Response, or “Auto-DR”); maintained on site by the facility owner; remotely initiated by a centralized office with local override options; or integrated into an ancillary BMS system to provide the desired load-shedding for lighting while being incorporated with additional load-shedding strategies within the building. Variable zone control of the lighting, together with user-defined extended fade rates, serves to minimize disruption for occupants and maintains even light levels not found with typical switched loads.
The California Energy Commission (CEC) and California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) have identified Demand Response technology as an important element in its goal of flattening out the grid load shape on peak days and to help avoid the blackout situations that arose in California in 2001 and the Northeast in 2003. Demand Response technology allows the end-user to most cost effectively utilize common electric utility pricing methods such as: Time-of-Use (TOU), Critical Peak Pricing (CPP) and Demand Bidding Program (DPB).
For more information about Hunt Dimming, visit www.huntdimming.com.
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