California’s Flexible Demand Appliance Standards for Pool Controls Program – Employing Load Shifting to Lower Peak Demand and Avoid Emissions

In this webinar, hosted by the Clean Energy States Alliance, guest speakers from the California Energy Commission (CEC) presented their award-winning Flexible Demand Appliance Standards (FDAS) for Pool Controls program. In 2023, CEC created the first-in-the-world flexible demand appliance standard for residential swimming pool controls. There are over 1 million pools in the state, making pool controls an ideal candidate for the new FDAS regulations that employ load shifting and time-of-use rates to avoid emissions associated with electricity generation during peak demand. Flexible demand technologies enable an appliance to schedule, shift, or curtail electrical demand with the consumer’s consent.   

The standards for pool controls will save ratepayers millions of dollars, improve the reliability and resilience of the electric grid, and improve air quality. This program is estimated to provide 682 gigawatt hours of peak load shift and avoid 394,000 metric tons of CO2e emissions with complete stock turnover by 2035. The estimated added cost to pool owners is less than $100. This first standard adopted under California’s new FDAS authority establishes a foundation for the program, which will also consider other technologies, such as electric storage water heaters, air source heat pumps, and battery storage systems. 

The CEC received a 2024 State Leadership in Clean Energy Award for the FDAS for Pool Controls program. Programs are evaluated based on leadership, innovation, cost-effectiveness, and replicability.  According to the judges: “Flexible demand standards are a cost-effective and straightforward way to reduce CO2, because time of use is directly related to emissions. Starting with pool controls allows the CEC to roll out the program and demonstrate its benefits, not just for pool owners but to the general public, with the cost savings, resilience, pollution-reduction and health benefits felt by all ratepayers. It will serve as a model for FDAS for other appliances and technologies.” Read more about the 2024 award-winning programs here: www.cesa.org/projects/state-leadership-in-clean-energy/2024-awards.  

Speakers:  

• Andrew McAllister, Commissioner, California Energy Commission
• Michael Sokol, Director of the Efficiency Division, California Energy Commission
• Nicholaus Struven, Lead Technical Engineer, California Energy Commission
• Warren Leon, Executive Director, Clean Energy States Alliance (moderator)