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Terms and Conditions:
ClimateResponse® Virtual Power Plant (VPP)

Only for Large Non-Residential Customers of
California Choice Energy Authority (CalChoice) Members

The ClimateResponse®Virtual Power Plant (VPP) – by Olivine is designed to empower and enable customers who receive energy from the grid to support grid stability and mitigate the impacts of climate change on our power supply. The VPP is free to participate and may provide payments to participants for their responses.

Participation in the ClimateResponse® VPP is subject to the following terms and conditions:

  1. ELIGIBILITY: Large Non-Residential Customers of California Choice Energy Authority member CCAs who are not enrolled in other utility or third-party Demand Response (DR) programs are eligible to participate in the ClimateResponse® VPP. Customers enrolled in other programs must disenroll prior to or coincident to enrolling with ClimateResponse®. Limit to one enrollment per service account. Large non-residential customers are defined as utility account holders for buildings where the electric loads are above 500 kW and have the ability to readily participate in events and reduce at least 100 kW.
  2. TECHNOLOGY: ClimateResponse® does not require any specific technology for participation. Participants must respond behaviorally to ClimateResponse® Events by taking actions to reduce energy use during events. Alternatively, Participants with eligible technologies for direct control may work with Olivine to facilitate automated demand response functionality through OpenADR/API integrations.
  3. SMART METER: The participant’s service account must have a utility grade smart meter installed that monitors energy usage at 15-minute intervals (Note: most buildings in California have such smart meters). Service accounts who do not have a smart meter may be eligible to participate in ClimateResponse® Grid Emergency Events that may not require smart meters, and/or 15-minute interval data, subject to review and approval before enrollment is confirmed. Eligible accounts participating in an aggregation of electric vehicle chargers and/or battery storage may also be able to participate through sub-metered device level data.
  4. COMMITMENT: Participants need to establish a “Nomination Capacity”, indicating the estimated load reduction (kW) achievable during a ClimateResponse® event. Participants must reduce their electricity demand during ClimateResponse® Events by at least the Nomination Capacity amount. Olivine can provide technical assistance to determine the appropriate Nomination Capacity and participants may review and adjust their nomination capacity amount on a monthly basis. Please contact Olivine to request technical assistance or to submit a request to adjust the Nomination Capacity by contacting ask@climateresponse.com. The Nomination Capacity will be used to calculate potential energy, environmental and financial impacts of event participation. Olivine reserves the right to remove participants from ClimateResponse® event participation they consistently fail to meet their Nomination Capacity and/or fail to provide the information and data needed for enrollment.
  5. ENROLLMENT: All participants must enroll in the ClimateResponse® VPP via the website or by electronically signing a Participation Agreement (PA) and agreeing to these Terms and Conditions (T&Cs); and must provide any additional data and information required by Olivine. By enrolling in the ClimateResponse® VPP, participants attest that the information provided is accurate and complete to the best of their knowledge, they agree to share their utility meter data with Olivine, will abide by all terms, conditions, and restrictions, and the participant attests that it has all necessary authorization to enroll and has provided any necessary notice to property owners or managers.
  6. EVENTS: Participants will receive event notifications prior to an event sent by Olivine via email and may also be sent SMS text if the participant chooses. Event notifications will include the date, time, duration of the event and will include any special instructions or provisions allowed for event participation such as the use of backup generation and energy exports.
  7. EVENT TRIGGERS: ClimateResponse® Events may be triggered for one or more of the following reasons:
    1. CAISO Grid Energy Emergency Alerts (EEAs) and Flex Alerts between May 1st and October 31st
    2. High local greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
    3. High wholesale energy prices
    4. Event testing
  8. EVENT INFORMATION:
    1. Events will be called only during May 1 – October 31
    2. ClimateResponse® Non-Emergency Events will be:
      1. Scheduled between 4 PM and 10 PM any day of the week.
      2. Will be typically notified to all participants by 5 PM the day before the event.
      3. Will have a maximum of 1 per day and a maximum of 10 per month and called for a minimum of 1 hour and maximum of 4 hours.
    3. ClimateResponse® Grid Emergency Events:
      1. Are called only in response to an Energy Emergency Alert called by CAISO or the customer’s Balancing Authority not subject to the above limitations.
      2. May overlap with or be in different hours of the day from non-emergency ClimateResponse® Events.
      3. Will be notified to all participants as soon as possible. Day-ahead notifications might not be possible.
      4. Will be for a minimum of 1 hour and are typically between 4 and 10 PM.
      5. May be canceled or modified after initial dispatch without advance notice. An event update notification will be sent if an event is extended, canceled, shortened, or otherwise modified.
  9. TEST EVENTS: A maximum of 1 test event may be conducted between May 1 – October 31. All notification protocols, as well as event performance calculation procedures (i.e. committed capacity quantity delivered for the duration of the ClimateResponse® Event), will apply during test events. Participants are not paid incentives for the test event.
  10. INCENTIVES: Participants will be paid incentives based on performance only and according to the verified incremental load reduction reductions achieved during ClimateResponse® Events as demonstrated by their utility grade meter data. Participants who respond to both Non-Emergency and Emergency Event dispatches will receive energy payment at a rate of $2 per kWh of verified incremental energy load reduction provided during a dispatch period. In addition, Participants who exceed their Nomination Capacity will receive an additional capacity payment of $1.00 per kW for each hour of verified incremental capacity load reduction in excess of the Nomination Capacity during a dispatch period. Participants who only respond to ClimateResponse® Emergency Event dispatches will receive a payment of $2 per kWh of verified incremental energy load reduction (and is not eligible for the capacity payment). Not every Participant will be eligible to respond to and obtain payment for Non-Emergency Event dispatches, and Olivine will inform Participants of their eligibility to respond to Non-Emergency Events. Incentives earned will be disbursed to participants within two weeks of Olivine receiving payments for events (typically by April the following year).
  11. INSTALLATION COSTS: If the participant is installing equipment to participate in the VPP, the participant is solely responsible for the cost of purchasing and installing the equipment. Olivine will not pay for installation costs or for any upgrades to the participant’s electrical system required for installation of the battery energy storage system. The participant is responsible for hiring a qualified professional to estimate the cost of installation, obtain any necessary permits and install the equipment, and obtain any federal, state, or local incentives.
  12. PARTICIPATION COSTS: Participation in ClimateResponse® is free.