What is the Capacity Bidding Program Elect (CBP-E)?

As your electricity provider, we’re not just focused on delivering your electricity; we’re here to help you find ways to reduce your energy use. For businesses of all sizes, we offer the Capacity Bidding Program Elect, which rewards you for reducing energy when energy prices are high, demand reaches critical levels, or supply is limited. By pledging to use less energy when a CBP-E event is called, your business can help us prevent outages and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, all while earning incentives that can create significant savings on your electric bill.

 

Get Paid to Reduce with CBP-E

  • Receive a monthly incentive payment even if no load reduction events are called
  • Participate through a third-party Aggregator or Self-Aggregate your portfolio of service accounts
  • Make flexible monthly choices; you control how much you bid each month

 

How It Works

Through this internet-based program, your business can earn payments for agreeing to reduce its energy use during CBP-E events. This helps ease the stress on the electrical grid when resources become constrained.

Your business can participate by making monthly nominations (or “bids”) to reduce its energy load and be compensated with payments based on its actual energy reduction when a Capacity Bidding Program Elect event is called. This program is designed to offer you the flexibility to adjust your bid and participation preferences every month. You may select to be notified the day before an event. You’ll never be required to reduce your load by more than 24 hours in any month.

 

Ready to apply?

Select a CBP-E Aggregator below or learn how to become an aggregator for your service accounts. For more information, contact your SCE Account Manager or the Demand Response Help Desk at 1(link is a phone number)-866-334-7827. Our tariff sheetopens in new window provides complete terms and conditions for the Capacity Bidding Program Elect.

 

List of CBP-E Aggregators

 

 

Becoming an Aggregator

To become a CBP-E Aggregator, print, complete, and submit the Aggregator Agreementopens in new window and Credit Application. Once we receive your application, our credit services department will review your credit history and determine whether or not you meet the credit requirements or must provide a deposit. If you are required to submit a deposit, you can provide us with your expected maximum capacity nomination, and we will inform you of the appropriate deposit amount required to participate. The deposit amount may increase depending on your expected maximum capacity nomination; however, an initial deposit amount of $5,000 is required to be listed on our website.

If your application has been approved and we have received your deposit (if required), you will be notified and will receive your website login and password information. Additionally, your name will appear on our website's list of Aggregators on this page. If you wish, you can request that your name not be listed on our website.

Once you are an official aggregator, you must complete an Aggregator Add Form for each customer you add to your portfolio. The Aggregator Add Form also acknowledges the customer’s intent to release their information to you (the aggregator). After submitting the required forms, we will complete the enrollment process and notify you when you may begin placing nominations with the Capacity Bidding Program Elect. The Aggregator Remove Form is required when you want to remove a customer from your portfolio.

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Capacity Bidding Program Elect Frequently Asked Questions

Capacity Bidding Program Elect FAQ

Participating customers may be residential, general service, and agricultural service accounts, that are Bundled Service, Direct Access or Community Choice Aggregation customers. To be eligible to participate in CBP-E, customers must have the appropriate interval metering equipment installed. The interval meter must be able to record energy usage data in hourly intervals.

The Capacity Bidding Program - Elect (CBP-E) is a day-ahead program that is available (May to October) to Aggregators. To participate in CBP-E, you can enroll through a third-party aggregator.

No. CBP-E is open to residential and non-residential customers of all sizes, so there is no minimum monthly demand to qualify.

The CBP-E offers two types of incentive payments: Energy Payments and Capacity Payments.

  • Energy Payments are only earned when events occur and are based on your actual energy-use reduction.
  • Capacity Payments are based on the load reduction amount you nominated for the month and vary depending on the month’s capacity price. The closer your average actual energy load reduction during event hours is to your bid/nomination amount, the higher your Capacity Payment. If no event is called in a given month, you’ll receive the full Capacity Payment. If you fail to meet your bid commitment during an event, you may be subject to penalties, so we recommend bidding reduction levels that are attainable.

 

We know your business energy needs can change from month to month, so we designed the CBP-E to give you the control and flexibility to change your commitment, or “Capacity Nomination”, on a month-to-month basis. Once enrolled, you’ll have access to our easy online system to choose your bid amount and set notification preferences. You can also opt to be notified the day before the event, by your choice of email, SMS text message, or telephone.

Once Capacity Nominations are submitted, you can change your nominated accounts or amounts up until the nomination deadline which is 15 calendar days before the start of the operating month.

 

No. Each service account may only be nominated once per operating month.

 

Related Links

Still, have questions about CBP Elect?  

Our CBP-E Fact Sheet and FAQ Sheet has answers.