SmartGrid Advanced Load Management & Optimized Neighborhood (SALMON)

Situated in Portland’s Overlook/Arbor Lodge neighborhood, this project is focused on a disadvantaged, low- and moderate-income community that is currently facing gentrification. This project represents a mix of retrofitted residential and commercial buildings that are currently part of a PGE Smart Grid Test Bed site. Using DERs as resources in bulk capacity markets as a grid service is novel and will serve as a precedent for utilities in the region.

Arbor Lodge community in Portland, OR
Arbor Lodge community in Portland, OR
PGE Collaboration
Community location in Portland, OR
Community location in Portland, OR
Project Lead
Portland General Electric
Planned Location of Buildings
Portland, OR
Partners

Community Energy Project
Energy Trust of Oregon
Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Building types
Approximately 580 buildings comprised of up to 500 residential single-family homes, 40 multi-family residential homes, 40 small commercial buildings, and 1 large commercial building
New or retrofit buildings
Retrofit existing buildings
Energy Efficiency Target
Retrofit projects will achieve a minimum 10% average efficiency improvement across all treated buildings. This work will target various permanent load shifting measures like smart thermostats, insulation, smart water heaters, heat pumps, and solar. Incentives are being offered and structures vary depending on the eligible market segment. Most residential incentives are presented as incentives to lower upfront costs.
Total load
N/A
Estimated DERs planned
Rooftop PV (qty 40) w/ inverters, heat pump water heaters (qty 60), smart thermostats (qty 375), battery storage systems (qty 40), EV charging infrastructure (qty 20)
Flexible Loads
Goal is to build up to 1.4 MW of localized flexible load with grid enabled controls for all major end-use loads, including high efficiency HVAC and water heating, solar and energy storage, and managed electric vehicle charging
Coordinated Controls

The flexible loads will be integrated into PGE’s Advanced Distribution and DER Management Systems (ADMS) and optimized by NREL to demonstrate multiple grid services. Integration of a new Enterprise DERMS platform (commercially available off-the-shelf system with new advanced functions added) and PGE’s ADMS will provide the grid services.

Coordinated Controls

Grid issues addressed
N/A
Grid services planned
This project will demonstrate the novelty of using DERs as a resource for distribution and transmission bulk capacity markets using advanced grid services, such as voltage management, frequency response, and bulk service provisioning, something previously demonstrated as part of the NREL ADMS Test Bed during Phase II of this project.
EV Charging
Optimizing EV charging and offering load balancing based on real-time and forecasted grid conditions. Proposed incentive structure is $50 for enrolling with a $25 bill credit twice a year for allowing PGE to pause your Tesla charging during times of high demand. An additional $20 monthly bill credit is offered to keep your car plugged in when not in use.
Solar and Battery
To increase installations, the team conducted an RFP to pre-select qualified installers who ran a targeted time-bound campaign. Increased incentives were presented to customers as a single upfront project buy down and included contributions from Energy Trust of Oregon, PGE, and the solar installers. The team will test the ability to use the newly installed systems to support distribution operational needs through voltage support and frequency response.
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