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Voluntary Energy Reduction Program

With the Voluntary Energy Reduction Program, your farm gets paid — at a price you choose — for voluntarily reducing electric use during peak times (such as on summer's hottest days). In essence, your farm "sells" electricity back to Wisconsin Public Service.

By reducing your electric use when requested, you help make the most of Wisconsin's power system. You also gain the opportunity to manage your energy costs.

Please contact us to learn more about — or to sign up for — the Voluntary Energy Reduction Program.

Who Is This Program For?
The Voluntary Energy Reduction Program is for farms who:

  • are electric customers of Wisconsin Public Service, and
  • have either a back-up generator or the flexibility to reduce their electric use by at least 50 kilowatts at certain times.

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How Does the Program Work?
You choose from six price levels ($0.10, $0.25, $0.75, $1.50, $3.00 or $5.00 per kilowatt-hour) the price at which you're willing to reduce your electric use if requested by WPSC. You also estimate how much you'll be able to reduce your use.

  • You can change your price or estimated reduction by notifying WPSC before 9 a.m. any business day, with the change going into effect the following business day.
  • At WPSC, we compile all participating customers' bids and consider these when purchasing power. If bids from the Voluntary Energy Reduction Program provide a low-cost option, we ask participants to reduce their electric use.
  • You will learn about the opportunity to reduce your use at least 30 minutes before the time when WPSC will begin compensating participants. This is communicated through a paging system.
  • Any compensation opportunity lasts for at least 2 hours.
  • You have the ability to make a real-time decision about whether to reduce your electric use. If, at the time WPSC pages you, you cannot reduce electric use, there's no obligation to do so.

An Example

Acme Processing joins the Voluntary Energy Reduction Program, selecting the $0.75 per kilowatt-hour price level and indicating an ability to reduce electric use by 500 kilowatts when requested.

Based on power supply needs, WPSC sends a page to all program participants indicating that anyone who has selected the $0.75 bid level has the opportunity to be compensated for reducing their electric use — for at least 2 hours, but possibly up to 7 hours.

WPSC's actual supply need lasts for 6 hours. Acme Processing reduces electric use by 500 kilowatts for 6 hours and receives a credit of $2,250 from WPSC.

If you don't have staff on site to manage your electric use but want to participate in the Voluntary Energy Reduction Program, WPSC can assist you. We'll install a switch that's operated by an FM signal, controlling your electric use when your chosen price level is reached.

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Are There Any Program Limitations?
WPSC cannot compensate any customer for a reduction that's greater than 120 percent of the amount agreed upon.

Because this program is completely voluntary, WPSC can't always count on electricity that will become available through the program. So voluntary bids will most likely be selected by WPSC when other power supply options are priced significantly higher.

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Are Any Costs Involved?
If you join the program, you will incur the one-time cost of a pager (about $135).

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