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Wellinghoff to Advise New Demand Response Trade Association

Feb. 4, 2014

Former FERC chairman Jon Wellinghoff will serve as the strategic advisor for a new demand response trade association formed by EnerNOC, Comverge, and Johnson Controls. The founding members already are facing off with generators in a turf war in Pennsylvania.

Elisa Wood

Three big demand response companies today announced a new trade association with Jon Wellinghoff, former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, serving as the organization’s strategic counsel. Wellinghoff is a long-time supporter of demand response and green energy technologies.

EnerNOC, Comverge, and Johnson Controls have founded the Advanced Energy Management Alliance to leverage resources and bring the demand response community together, said EnerNOC’s Rick Counihan, who will serve as AEMA’s chairman.

The three founding companies are already defending DR together in a battle before the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, where utilities and generators have called into question program costs. The DR companies characterize the battle as a turf war, in comments before the PUC.

Comverge’s Frank Lacey, AEMA vice chairman, said the new trade group will work “to increase awareness of the benefits of demand response and to pro-actively advocate for programs and rule structures that make business sense for customers while meeting the needs of grid operators and utilities.”

Walmart, a demand response user, also is a founding member of AEMA. IPKeys and Landis+Gyr are affiliate members.

The AEMA’s website is here.

About the Author

Elisa Wood | Editor-in-Chief

Elisa Wood is an award-winning writer and editor who specializes in the energy industry. She is chief editor and co-founder of Microgrid Knowledge and serves as co-host of the publication’s popular conference series. She also co-founded RealEnergyWriters.com, where she continues to lead a team of energy writers who produce content for energy companies and advocacy organizations.

She has been writing about energy for more than two decades and is published widely. Her work can be found in prominent energy business journals as well as mainstream publications. She has been quoted by NPR, the Wall Street Journal and other notable media outlets.

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