Customer FAQ
Information in this Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) FAQ may change, in whole or in part, subject to California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approval.
General Questions
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Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) is a flexible Demand Response (DR) program. When you participate in ELRP, not only do you conserve energy and help the environment, but you also receive financial incentives to use less energy during grid emergencies. While you’re relieving stress on the grid to help prevent power shortages in your community, you’ll earn $2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) reduced during ELRP events, with zero penalties if you can’t participate.
ELRP is unique in that it allows dual participation for non-residential customers with third-party DR providers (DRPs) as well as those enrolled in:
- Agricultural & Pumping Interruptible (AP-I)
- Summer Discount Plan for Commercial customers (SDP-C)
- Critical Peak Pricing (CPP)
- Real Time Pricing (RTP)
- Base Interruptible Program (BIP)*
- Capacity Bidding Program (CBP)**
* If you are enrolled in the Base Interruptible Program (BIP) through an aggregator and they choose to not enroll in ELRP, you will not be able to enroll in ELRP.
**If your CBP aggregator has enrolled in the ELRP, you will be eligible to participate through your CBP aggregator. If you are enrolled in CBP directly through SCE, you will not be able to participate in ELRP
Eligible Net Energy Metering (NEM) customers that can export energy and have behind-the-meter Rule 21 interconnected devices, with existing Rule 21 export permits, can be incentivized for exporting energy.
ELRP also allows limited dual participation for residential customers if they are enrolled in CPP or RTP. Residential customers cannot dual-participate if they are already enrolled in a Demand Response program through a third party DRP.
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ELRP is divided into two groups, Group A and Group B. As listed below, Group A has six sub-groups, and Group B has two sub-groups.
Each sub-group has different eligibility criteria, giving customers different channels for ELRP participation; however, customers can only participate in one sub-group at a time.
Group A includes customers and aggregators not participating in market-integrated supply-side Demand Response (DR) programs.
- Non-residential customers (A.1)
- Non-residential aggregators (A.2)
- Rule 21 exporting DERs (A.3)
- Virtual Power Plant (VPP) aggregators (A.4)
- Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI) aggregators (A.5)
- Power Saver Rewards Program for Residential Customers (A.6)
Group B includes DR providers participating in market-integrated supply-side Demand Response (DR) programs
- Third-party DRPs (B.1)
- CBP aggregators (B.2)
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Olivine, Inc. is a California-based company focused on helping the state meet its ambitious renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals. Olivine is the ELRP Program Implementer, providing the pilot’s infrastructure and program management. To learn more, visit olivineinc.com
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The customer must have an SCE approved interval meter. The customer may not be simultaneously enrolled in another supply-side demand response (DR) program offered by an IOU, third-party demand response provider (DRP), or community choice aggregator (CCA), with the exception that dual enrollment in SCE’s Base Interruptible Program (BIP), Summer Discount Plan for Commercial Customers (SDP-C), or SCE’s Agricultural and Pumping Interruptible (AP-I) program is permitted.
Dual participation is allowed with: BIP, AP-I, SDP-C, Critical Peak Pricing (CPP), and Real Time Pricing (RTP). Dual Participation is not allowed with: Capacity Bidding Program (CBP), Demand Response Auction Mechanism (DRAM), and other market-integrated DR programs.
Residential customers can enroll in the Power Saver Rewards Program. Non-residential (commercial, industrial, and agricultural) individual SCE bundled-service customers, Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Service customers, and Direct Access customers are eligible to enroll directly in ELRP.
BIP, CBP, VPP, and VGI aggregators, as well as third-party DRPs, may enroll. If you are enrolled with an aggregator or third-party DRP, please contact them for program information. If you are enrolled in BIP through an aggregator and they choose not to enroll in ELRP, you will not be able to directly enroll.
Program Questions
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ELRP participants reduce energy when stress on the grid is at emergency levels. The program is designed to respond to system-wide California Independent System Operator (CAISO) grid reliability requirements – not to SCE’s local transmission and distribution grid needs.
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The ELRP program duration is five years (2021-2025).
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If a non-residential participating customer’s service account is located in a disadvantaged community, they may not, at any time, use prohibited resources (back-up generator) to achieve Incremental Load Reduction (ILR) as defined in California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Resolution E-4906.
If the non-residential service account is not located in a disadvantaged community, the participant may only use a prohibited resource to achieve ILR during an ELRP event when permitted by a Governor’s Executive Order and in compliance with Rule 21 and other applicable regulations and permits.
Non-residential ELRP participants who are dually enrolled in another DR program may use prohibited resources during overlapping events, but only to achieve ILR below any existing commitments when permitted by a Governor’s Executive Order, and if they are not located in a disadvantaged community.
These resources are defined as prohibited, in either topping cycle Combined Heat and Power (CHP) or non-CHP configuration:
- Distributed generation technologies using diesel
- Natural gas
- Gasoline
- Propane
- Liquefied petroleum gas
Although prohibited resources may be used by eligible non-residential participants to respond to ELRP events (when permitted by a Governor’s Executive Order and in compliance with Rule 21 and other applicable regulations and permits), it is important to note that stationary back-up generators are often subject to air district requirements, which vary by air district and may include permitting requirements, emission limits, and operational restrictions. ELRP participants are solely responsible for all environmental and other regulatory requirements associated with operating their prohibited resources.
Disadvantaged communities are defined as (1) areas disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and other hazards that may lead to negative public health effects, exposure, or environmental degradation; and (2) areas with concentrations of people who are of low income, high unemployment, low levels of homeownership, high rent burden, sensitive populations, or low levels of educational attainment. CalEnviroScreen, an analytical tool created by the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), combines different types of census tract-specific information into a score to determine which communities are the most burdened or “disadvantaged.” The Disadvantaged Communities Map shows areas classified as such by CalEnviroScreen. Disadvantaged communities are defined as the top 25% scoring areas from CalEnviroScreen, along with other areas with high amounts of pollution and low populations.
Using prohibited resources during test events is not permitted and will not be compensated.
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If a service account has a behind-the-meter Rule 21 interconnected device with export capability and permit, and the participant specifies they want to be compensated for exports, their exported energy will be counted in baselines and load reduction.
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When you participate in ELRP, not only do you conserve energy and help the environment, you also receive financial incentives to use less energy during grid emergencies. While you’re relieving stress on the grid to help prevent power shortages in your community, you’ll earn $2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) reduced during ELRP events, with zero penalties if you can’t participate.
If you are enrolled with an aggregator or third-party DRP, please contact them for information on program benefits.
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If you are directly enrolled in ELRP, you may end your participation by sending written notice to support@elrp.sce.com. Your disenrollment will be effective within 5 business days after the written notice is received.
Enrollment Questions
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Direct enrollment refers to customers who initiate and complete the ELRP enrollment process with SCE directly. The General Questions section of the Customer FAQ covers direct enrollment eligibility requirements. Direct-enrolled customers receive notifications and any payments directly from the program. Aggregators and third-party demand response providers (DRPs) may also enroll their aggregations in ELRP. If you are enrolled with an aggregator or third-party DRP, please contact them for information about the program. If you are enrolled in the Base Interruptible Program (BIP) through an aggregator and they choose to not enroll in ELRP, you will not be able to directly enroll.
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If you’re directly enrolling in ELRP, you should have this information ready:
- Business name (as it appears on your bill).
- Service account number.
- Service address (as it appears on your bill).
- The customer representative’s contact information (name, email, phone number).
- Your load reduction nominations for each service account.
- The email address you want to use to receive event notifications.
- Indication if any service accounts you are enrolling have prohibited resources. If so, Customer Service will contact you to get more information after you enroll.
- Indication if any service accounts you are enrolling have Rule 21 export agreements, and if you are seeking compensation for exports.
- Email address for authorized signer of the Terms and Conditions (if you are not authorized).
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If you directly enroll, usually your enrollment will be processed within 3 days but may take up to two weeks to verify your enrollment. If it is determined that any of your service accounts are not eligible for ELRP, Customer Service will contact you to explain the reasons why.
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If you directly enroll, once your enrollment is verified, a confirmation email will be sent to the email address you entered in the Contact Details section of your enrollment application.
If you enroll with an aggregator or third-party demand response provider (DRP), please contact them for their ELRP enrollment status.
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If you are a non-residential customer, you do not have to re-enroll at the start of each program season; your enrollment will continue year to year, unless you decide to disenroll.
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Your aggregator or third-party demand response provider (DRP) may be eligible to enroll in ELRP. Please contact them for ELRP information. If you are enrolled in the Base Interruptible Program (BIP) through an aggregator and they choose not to enroll in ELRP, you will not be able to directly enroll.
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A nomination is the estimated target load reduction quantity (kW) for an ELRP event. Nominations are required for non-residential customers directly enrolled in ELRP. Participation in ELRP events is entirely voluntary, and no financial penalties result from not meeting or exceeding your nomination amount. Starting in the 2022 ELRP season, event compensation is not impacted by nominations.
Base Interruptible Program (BIP) customer nominations should be the incremental load reduction below their FSL.
If you want to be compensated for exports and have a behind-the-meter Rule 21 interconnected device with export capability and permit, your load reduction nomination for the exporting service account should include any exports.
Nominations are used to estimate the program’s total expected load reduction. You may update your nomination any time through Olivine website, by following the instructions provided in your enrollment confirmation email.
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If you are a Rule 21 exporting distributed energy resource (DER) directly-enrolled customer (for example, a customer enrolled under ELRP Sub-Group A.3.), you may elect to use virtual aggregation when you enroll.
If you have control over multiple electrically-contiguous service accounts, you may be permitted to virtually aggregate the load and generation during ELRP dispatch hours only, to fully use the sum of the net export allowed by any Rule 21 permit(s) associated with the service accounts.
Two service accounts are considered electrically-contiguous when they get electricity service from the same utility distribution transformer secondary, and there are no devices on the utility distribution system that can interrupt power flow to only one service account. SCE reviews and approves virtual aggregation applications on a case-by-case basis.
If you are interested in virtually aggregating electrically-contiguous service accounts, please complete the Direct Customer Enrollment form and send an email to support@elrp.sce.com stating your interest. The ELRP team will contact you with more information.
Questions about ELRP Events
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Events are triggered by the “Energy Emergency Alert (EEA)” process defined by the California Independent Service Operator Operating Procedure 4420.
Day-ahead events are triggered by CAISO EEA Watch notifications, and Day-of events are triggered by CAISO EEA Watch and EEA-1, EEA-2, or EEA-3 notifications. Base Interruptible Program participants are only eligible for compensation for ELRP events that overlap with BIP events, and only the incremental reduction below the BIP pre-committed Firm Service Level (FSL) during the overlapping event window is compensated under the ELRP.
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Participation in ELRP events is completely voluntary, with no financial penalties if you do not meet (or if you exceed) the nominated target.
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ELRP runs between May and October each year, and events may occur any day of the week from 4 – 9 p.m. Events last one to five hours and may be called on consecutive days based on grid conditions – but you won’t be asked to participate for more than 60 hours per year.
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If an ELRP event or dispatch does not occur during the season, SCE will conduct one test event, with a two-hour duration, per year for direct-enrolled customers, who are required to participate in the tests, unless they rely exclusively on prohibited resources. Load reduced during test events is compensated, but using prohibited resources during tests is not allowed, and is not compensated.
Test requirements do not apply to ELRP sub-group A.6 (Residential customers).
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Directly enrolled customers are typically notified of Day-Ahead events by 5 p.m. the day prior, and of Day-Of events shortly after the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) declares any Energy Emergency Alert (EEA). The three levels of alerts are EEA-1- all available generation resources in use, EEA-2 – all available generation resources in use, or EEA-3 – firm load interruption is imminent or in progress.
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Event notification emails list the service accounts you enrolled in ELRP, and the event date and time. The exact email message may differ based on the participant and their sub-group. For example, the email to direct-enrolled Base Interruptible Program (BIP) customers and aggregators reminds them they are only compensated for overlapping ELRP/BIP events, and the email to third-party demand response providers (DRPs) states it is a courtesy notification. Customers provide an email address at the time of enrollment for event notifications. For more convenience, download SCE’s free demand response (DR) Alerts application to receive event notifications.
Email event notifications are sent from email@elrp.sce.com, as shown in the sample email notification below:
Questions about Payments
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Directly enrolled customers earn $2 per kWh for incremental load reduced during ELRP events.
If you participate in ELRP through an aggregator or third-party demand response provider (DRP), please contact them for information about ELRP financial incentives.
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Performance payments for directly enrolled customers are calculated at the service agreement level by multiplying the incremental load reduction (ILR) by $2/kWh. The ILR is the load reduction achieved during an ELRP event incremental to the non-event applicable baseline and any other existing commitment.
The ELRP baseline for directly enrolled non-residential customers is calculated using this method:
- Calculate the Customer Specific Energy Baseline (CSEB) – the CSEB is calculated on an hourly basis using the average of the immediate past calendar days, excluding days when the customer: (1) was subject to an ELRP event or (2) an event for a dually-enrolled DR program, if applicable, or (3) was subject to a grid outage. For weekday events, the 10 non-excluded weekdays will be selected; for weekend and holiday events, the 4 non-excluded weekend and holiday days will be selected. If the customer elects to count exports in their ILR, the baseline calculation is modified to include net of exports. Critical Peak Pricing (CPP) and Real Time Pricing (RTP) event days will not be excluded from the calendar days in order to capture incrementality for ILR.
- Calculate the Day-Of Adjustment (DOA) – the DOA is a ratio of (a) the average usage of the first three hours of the four hours prior to the event to (b) the average load of the same hours from the days selected in accordance with Step 2 above. A DOA shall not be less than 1.00 or greater than 1.40. If either (a) or (b) are negative, the DOA is 1.0.
- Calculate the Adjusted Customer Specific Energy Baseline (ACSEB) – when the CSEB is greater than zero, the ACSEB will be calculated by multiplying the CSEB by the DOA. There is no ACSEB when the CSEB is less than zero.
- Performance payments are calculated by multiplying ILR by the ELRP Compensation Rate, which is set at $2/kWh. The ILR is calculated as the difference between the ACSEB and the usage for each hour during an ELRP event.
The ILR for Base Interruptible Program (BIP) participants is calculated by subtracting the load during the overlapping event window from the pre-committed FSL. BIP participants are only eligible to be compensated for overlapping ELRP/BIP events, and only the incremental reduction below the BIP pre-committed FSL during the overlapping event window is compensated.
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If you are directly enrolled, you will receive your ELRP compensation for the season as a bill credit by March 31 of the following year.
If you participate in ELRP through an aggregator or a third-party demand response provider (DRP), please contact them for information on payments and timing.
Information in this Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) FAQ may change, in whole or in part, subject to California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approval.
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