Buckeye Power is the generation and transmission cooperative through which the cooperatives own Units 2 and 3 at the Cardinal Station. The two units combined produce 1,230 megawatts (MW) of power.

Load Management

Early in the morning and late in the evening on the coldest winter days and hottest summer days — two times when consumers need and use the most electricity.

For Ohio's electric Cooperative member-consumers, it also is a time when new peak demands are most likely to be set.

What is a peak demand and why is it so important?

A peak of electrical demand is set when consumers of a particular electric utility use — or "demand" – more electricity than at any other time in the past.

Peaks are very important for consumers of Ohio's electric Cooperatives because each distribution Cooperative's rate structure is very closely tied to the level of use (demand) established by its consumers at the time of the peak.

When a new peak is set, each of the 25 distribution Cooperatives is assigned a new demand charge on their bill from the power plant (Buckeye Power, Inc., a member-owned power-generating Cooperative). The consumer's power bill is directly affected by this demand charge — maybe not right away, but ultimately, if your Cooperative is paying more for power, it's very likely that the Cooperative will have to adjust its rates to cover increased costs at some point.

The good news is that the demand charge a Co-op pays does not necessarily have to go up — it can go down! That's where load management comes in.

Every Ohio electric distribution Cooperative, in partnership with Buckeye Power, participates in a state-of-the-art, satellite-based load management program designed to prevent new peak demands.

Based in Columbus, OH, the system uses a powerful computer network, weather monitoring points throughout the state, satellite signals and special "radio-controlled switches" (RCSs) to monitor and control load.

The RCSs are connected to consumers' electric water heaters and selected electric heating systems throughout the state. The switches can temporarily interrupt the power to a water heater or heating system, so the overall load on the statewide system is reduced.

By grouping RCSs, Buckeye Power's load management staff can interrupt load in cycles as needed to bring the load down and, hopefully, avert a new peak.

When the peak period has passed, the RCS groups are cycled back on, and power is restored to the water heaters or heating systems.

Consumers volunteer to have the RCS attached to their electric water heater in order to help keep electricity costs down. In cases where a backup heating system is available, an RCS can interrupt the load of certain electric heating systems, too.

If you are a member-consumer of an electric Cooperative and would like to know more about how you can save money for you and your fellow members by taking part in load management programs, contact your co-op. You could earn discounts on your electric bill in the process!