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Big Buildings Making a Big Impact: Record Year for CleanPowerSF’s Peak Day Pricing Program

  • Elizabeth Grubb

Save energy, save money: Peak Day Pricing is a win-win situation for San Francisco’s downtown buildings.

In 2023, 50 large downtown San Francisco buildings participated in Peak Day Pricing, a CleanPowerSF program that rewards customers for reducing their energy usage on days when California’s electric grid is particularly strained. The 2023 season, which ran from July to October, featured the most participants and largest load reduction in the program’s history. Overall, participants had a total electric load reduction of 90,000 kWh, which is equivalent to the amount of electricity needed to fully charge 1,500 electric vehicles.

A Unique Program

CleanPowerSF’s Peak Day Pricing Program incentivizes businesses to reduce their electricity usage during Event Days between 4 P.M. and 9 P.M. from July 1 to October 31. Event Days are typically the hottest days of the summer when California’s electric grid is the most strained. Businesses that participate more consistently get a larger incentive at the end of the PDP season.

CleanPowerSF’s PDP Program is uniquely customer-friendly in a few ways.

First, the program is risk free. Unlike some similar programs, buildings that cannot reduce electricity during Event Days won’t be penalized. Not only that, CleanPowerSF’s PDP Program is the only Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) demand response program that nearly doubles incentives if a customer reduces load during at least 75% of Event Day peak hours.

The program is also uniquely suited to San Francisco. Because many of its large downtown skyscrapers can displace air conditioning using cool air in the City’s marine climate, this program helps San Francisco reduce electricity use when hotter parts of California desperately need it. Amidst San Francisco’s downtown recovery, this program also gives large buildings the opportunity to take action to support the grid and experience bill savings.

2023’s Peak Performers

Several buildings went above and beyond in 2023. CleanPowerSF is proud to recognize the top performing program participants from 2023 in our inaugural cohort of ”Peak Performers.” Peak Performers are participants with the largest cumulative load reduction and those who participated in load reduction efforts most consistently throughout the 2023 season. 

The Peak Performers for 2023 include the following CleanPowerSF customers: 345 California, 525 Market Street, 555 California Street, BXP’s 415 Mission Street (Salesforce Tower), Foundry Square II (The Orrick Building), Jamestown’s 55 Francisco and Levi’s Plaza, and Shorenstein Realty Services’ 45 Fremont Street.

In interviews, several of the Peak Performers shared how they were able to quickly reduce power use when specific Event Days are called by the program. On those Event Dates, customers are urged to take actions to reduce building wide energy use, such as making adjustments to large equipment like chillers and fans. A coordinated and concerted team effort has been key to success. In particular, the Chief Engineer of 555 California, Stephen Francisco, shared how his building operations team joined forces to reduce energy usage:

“We developed a multi-pronged approach to conserve energy – everything from turning off unnecessary lights, to adjusting temperature settings, and running the chiller earlier in the day. All these tasks are done manually, so we developed a checklist. We also communicated with our tenants, who were eager to reduce their energy load. All the coordination was well worth making a positive impact and lessening the strain on California’s electric grid – that’s our main motivator.”

Many participants echoed Francisco’s belief that the biggest incentive is being a good environmental steward, helping both San Francisco and the entire state.

Thank you to all our PDP participants for stepping up to the plate and keeping California’s energy supply reliable for everyone! We look forward to continuing this program and making meaningful contributions to California’s grid stability. If your business is on the E-19, B-19, E-20 or B-20 rate schedule and you are interested in participating in CleanPowerSF’s Peak Day Pricing Program, please contact us at cleanpowersf@sfwater.org. Learn more about the program at cleanpowersf.org/PDP.