The Challenge

Ventura Energy, a Santa Barbara-based renewable energy developer, was looking for a storage-only solution for a municipal water district in Northern California to improve reliability at a mission-critical pump station. The site includes large motors that often produce sharp energy spikes when pumps cycle, leading to significant energy charges on Pacific Gas & Electric’s B-6 tariff. An upcoming transition to the B-10 rate schedule, which has a greater emphasis on demand-related charges, increased the need for a control strategy capable of shaving peak demand and supporting site stability. 

Because the pump station must maintain reliable water delivery during outages or grid disturbances, backup capability was the primary use case. At the same time, the customer aimed to offset system costs by participating in available grid services. Enrollment in the Demand Response Auction Mechanism (DRAM) through Leap created an opportunity for additional value but also required a system capable of responding to scheduled dispatch events without compromising resiliency. The site is interconnected under PG&E’s Rule 21 non-export agreement, which prohibits exporting energy even during grid service events. Ventura Energy needed a system that could support manual and scheduled dispatch, coordinate with Leap’s API-driven signals, and operate effectively under a storage-only configuration with non-export constraints. 

The Solution

Ventura Energy selected Energy Toolbase’s ETB Controller to manage the 642 kW / 1,285 kWh Tesla Megapack 2 system. By employing a manual and scheduled dispatch strategy, ETB Controller enabled the battery to meet the site’s resiliency requirements while also responding to DRAM events coordinated through Leap’s API. This approach maintains backup availability and supports predictable grid service participation. The dispatch schedule strategy will also help reduce high demand charges once the transition to the B-10 rate schedule is complete. ETB Controller’s integration with Leap ensures seamless DRAM event coordination while maintaining compliance with the Rule 21 non-export limitations. 

Because the project did not require real-time economic optimization, ETB Controller provided the appropriate level of functionality without Acumen AI. Its straightforward configuration made it well-suited for a storage-only project focused on stability, backup capability, and scheduled grid support.