KAWMET: Using Demand Response to stay competitive

Energy is a significant share of what it costs KAWMET to make a cast iron stove. So when the foundry’s energy costs climbed, the arithmetic pointed somewhere uncomfortable: put up product prices, in a market where customers notice.

The company went looking for a third option instead.

By participating in demand side response, KAWMET is paid for being on standby to reduce consumption when the power system runs short of reserve. The revenue is regular and it is contracted — which makes it something a foundry can plan around when setting prices for the year.

• The five criteria KAWMET used to choose an aggregator over contracting directly
• What the one-hour reduction test involves, and why it carries payment of its own
• How the option to declare periodic unavailability protects a plant during production downtime
• Why a family-run manufacturer treats security of supply as a benefit in its own right.