Supplies offers load management benefits

Westminster’s wholesale supplier for electricity is offering its member cities a load management program designed to save on the power bills that the cities and their retail customers pay. And this afternoon Westminster’s elected leadership is learning details about how DSM, or Demand Side Management, can lower the city’s costs of buying power, as well as that which is paid by the retail customers. Because of the annual wholesale increases that reflect into the bills of retail customers, Westminster’s long-running contract with PMPA—Piedmont Municipal Power Agency in Greer—-is a sore point among the city’s customers. Westminster City Administrator Jeff Lord says load management is designed to reduce electric power demand, but requires a device to be installed onto a customer’s meter.