Client is a plastics injection molding shop in Illinois - ComEd territory. Currently on standard Rate 6L but they're offering to move us to interruptible Rate 6IL for about $0.008/kWh savings. Problem is we've got continuous molding processes that can't really shut down quickly. Anyone have experience with interruptible contracts in manufacturing? How often do they actually call interruptions?
Interruptible Rate Worth It for Plastics Manufacturer?
Jim - Interruptible can be tricky with plastics. We had a client get called 4 times last summer during peak demand periods. Each interruption lasted 2-4 hours. If your process can't handle shutdowns, the penalties can wipe out any savings pretty quickly. What's the penalty structure look like?
Penalty is like $15/kW for the first hour of non-compliance, then escalates. With our 800 kW demand, that's $12,000 just for the first hour. Beth, how did your client handle the production scheduling around potential calls?
They ended up installing a small backup generator for critical processes and learned to build buffer inventory during high-risk periods (hot summer afternoons). But honestly, it was a lot of operational headache for the savings. Might want to look at time-of-use optimization instead.