Demand Bidding Program (DBP)
SCE’s Demand Bidding Program (DBP) is a year-round, flexible, Internet-based bidding program that offers business customers credits for voluntarily reducing power when a DBP event is called. DBP is for bundled service and Direct Access customers who have at least one service account with a demand of 200 kilowatts (kW) or greater in any 3 months during the preceding 12 months. There are no penalties for submitting a bid and not reducing power. However, you will not receive credit for an event during which power is not reduced. Participants may include aggregated groups of up to 25 service accounts with a combined demand of greater than 200 kW.
How the Program Works
SCE will notify you of a DBP event via your designated primary telephone line. SCE will begin notifying you by 12 noon the day before a DBP event. If SCE does not reach you, SCE will make two more attempts (directly following the first attempt) on the designated primary telephone line. The designated lead account of an aggregated group will receive all notifications for the whole group. SCE cannot and does not guarantee customer receipt of any notification. You may also opt to receive courtesy notifications via cell phone, e-mail, or fax.
Bidding Details:
A DBP event may occur any weekday (excluding holidays) between the hours of noon and 8:00 p.m. Customer bids for power reductions are accepted the day before the actual DBP event.
You may vary your bid commitment by hour for each DBP event. However, you must bid in at least two consecutive hours for an event via SCE’s designated Internet DBP website. Applicable credits will appear on customer bills after the meter has been read and DBP credits have been calculated
What You'll Receive:
Credit amounts will be based on whether or not the bid and actual power reduction fulfilled DBP bidding criteria.
Credits for DBP Events
- Bundled Service customers who place bids to reduce power during DBP events or test events may be eligible to receive a bill credit of 50 cents per kWh of actual power reduction.
- Direct Access customers who place bids to reduce power during DBP events or test events may be eligible to receive a bill credit of 50 cents per kWh of actual power reduction minus the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) hourly average energy price at which excess energy can be sold back into the power system (real-time market energy price).
For additional opportunities to reduce energy costs, you may enroll in more than one demand response program at a time. For details, see the Demand Response Dual Enrollment Options (PDF) chart.
Determining Actual Reduced Energy:
SCE determines the amount of power actually reduced in each hour of a DBP event by comparing the load reduction to either the CSEB or the customer's AGEB, whichever is applicable.
Effective January 1, 2010, baselines for all customers changed to the "10-Day Average Baseline". Under this new baseline methodology, each hour during the past ten similar days prior to an event day is averaged (by service account) to establish an hourly average baseline for those ten days. The past ten similar days excludes event days, weekends and holidays. You may also use a “Day-Of” adjustment option, which may adjust your baseline up or down. For more information please visit www.sce.com/drp.
10-Day Average Baseline and "Day-of-Adjustment" Fact Sheet (PDF)
Who Can Participate
DBP is for bundled service and Direct Access customers who have at least one service account with a demand of 200 kilowatts (kW) or greater in any 3 months during the preceding 12 months. If you are a customer on Schedule S (Standby), you are also eligible to enroll and participate.
What Is Needed
In addition to Internet access, you must have an SCE-approved communicating interval metering system capable of recording usage in 15-minute intervals.
Aggregated Accounts
Participants may include aggregated groups of up to 25 service accounts with a combined demand of greater than 200 kW. Each aggregated group must assign a designated lead account that has registered a demand of 200 kW or greater in any three months during the preceding 12-month period. The designated lead account will be the aggregated group’s primary contact for DBP event notifications, and the recipient of all DBP credits applicable to the group.
Note: Bundled service and Direct Access accounts cannot be aggregated under the same customer agreement.
Easy To Participate
In order to enroll and participate in the DBP, SCE must receive your executed DBP Agreement. For more information, contact your SCE account representative or call the Demand Response Helpline at
For more information, please refer to the Demand Bidding Program Resources page.
