Every summer, when temperatures spike and air conditioners run at full blast, the New England electric grid faces its greatest test. The system operator — ISO-NE — must balance supply and demand in real time to prevent outages. When supply gets tight, they don’t just build more power plants. Instead, they pay businesses to temporarily reduce their electricity use.

That payment goes directly to you. It’s called Demand Response, and it’s one of the most underutilized revenue opportunities available to commercial and industrial energy customers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island today.

What Is Demand Response?

Demand Response (DR) is a set of programs that compensate organizations for reducing their electricity load during specific periods — typically hot summer afternoons or cold winter evenings when grid stress is highest. When a DR event is called, participants are notified in advance (from 30 minutes to a full day ahead, depending on the program) and reduce their consumption for a few hours.

Think of it this way: the grid needs fewer megawatts during a stress event. Instead of firing up an expensive peaking power plant, ISO-NE and local utilities pay businesses like yours to “not use” that electricity. Your building becomes part of a virtual power plant — contributing to grid reliability without burning a drop of fuel.

The ISO-NE grid serves all six New England states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Both states are fully eligible for ISO-level demand response programs, and Massachusetts customers served by Eversource, National Grid, or Unitil have access to additional utility-sponsored programs that stack on top of ISO payments.

Why Now? The Grid Is Under Pressure

New England’s grid is at a critical inflection point. Several aging power plants have recently retired or are at risk of decommissioning — representing roughly 30% of regional generation capacity. At the same time, wind and solar are coming online rapidly, adding intermittency that makes balancing supply and demand more challenging, not less.

The result: demand response is becoming more valuable, not less. Capacity prices in the ISO-NE Forward Capacity Market are projected to hold firm — and in some years grow — through the end of the decade as the region navigates this energy transition. Businesses that enroll in demand response programs today are locking in multi-year revenue at rates that reflect this tightening grid environment.

The Three Programs That Matter in MA and RI

Gridwealth Electric offers access to three complementary demand response programs through our Demand Response Partner — a nationally recognized demand response administrator. Each program serves a different purpose, and together they can be stacked to maximize your total energy benefit.

1. Active Demand Capacity Resource (ADCR) — EARN

The ISO-NE ADCR program is the primary capacity-market DR program for New England. Participants commit to being available to curtail load during both summer (June–September) and winter (December–January) seasons. With only 30-minute advance notice required, this program demands operational flexibility — but delivers the highest capacity payments available in the region.

Participants earn a fixed monthly capacity payment for every kilowatt of enrolled load, year-round, for up to a five-year commitment period. Rates for the 2026–2031 period range from approximately $2.59 to $3.58 per kW per month, translating to roughly $22,000–$30,000 per MW per year at the customer’s share.

2. Connected Solutions — EARN

Connected Solutions is a utility-level program offered by Eversource, National Grid, CapeLight, and Unitil across Massachusetts. It targets summer peak demand periods — typically 3pm to 8pm on weekdays from June through September. Customers receive day-ahead notification and are called 4–6 times per season for 3-hour events.

The payment structure is straightforward: curtailed load × capacity payment = revenue earned. At current rates of approximately $45 per kW per season at the customer’s share, a 1,000 kW participant earns roughly $31,500 per summer. Critically, this program stacks with ADCR — meaning you can earn from both simultaneously.

3. Peak Demand Management (Cap Tag) — SAVE

This is where Demand Response shifts from an earnings play to a cost-savings strategy. Every year, ISO-NE identifies the five highest peak hours on the grid — typically on hot summer weekday afternoons. Each business’s consumption during those hours determines their “Capacity Tag,” which sets the capacity charges they’ll pay on their electric bill for the following 12 months.

Capacity charges typically represent 20–30% of a commercial customer’s total electric bill. By reducing load during those critical peak hours, businesses can dramatically lower their Capacity Tag — and therefore their capacity costs — for an entire year. For a 1,000 kW customer, this can represent $58,000–$60,000 in avoided capacity charges annually.

How These Programs Stack

The real power is in stacking. A customer enrolled in all three programs earns ISO-NE capacity payments year-round, collects additional utility payments each summer, and reduces capacity charges on their electric bill for the following year. These three benefit streams compound — and our Demand Response Partner manages all of them under one program enrollment, handling dispatch notifications, performance tracking, and payment settlement.

Who Qualifies?

If your facility has a peak demand above 300 kW, you likely qualify for demand response in Massachusetts or Rhode Island. The most common participants include: :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11}

• Commercial office buildings — large HVAC loads are ideal for curtailment
• Manufacturers and industrial facilities — process flexibility and backup power capability are valuable assets
• Cold storage and distribution warehouses — thermal mass allows temporary temperature setbacks
• Hospitals and healthcare facilities — on-site generation assets (emergency generators) can participate directly
• Universities and large campuses — distributed loads across multiple buildings provide strong curtailment capacity
• Municipalities and public buildings — including community choice aggregation customers

Rhode Island customers fall under ISO-NE dispatch Zone 19 and are fully eligible for all programs listed above. Massachusetts has multiple dispatch zones covering Boston, the North Shore, South Shore, Western MA, Springfield, and Central MA — all active for demand response enrollment.

What Participation Actually Looks Like

One of the most common misconceptions about demand response is that it requires significant disruption to business operations. In practice, most events are short (2–4 hours), occur during off-peak business hours, and can be managed with simple operational adjustments — raising thermostat setpoints, dimming non-essential lighting, or temporarily pausing non-critical equipment. Facilities with backup generators can participate even more aggressively by running on-site generation during events. :contentReference

The notification process is fully automated. When an event is called, you receive advance notification by phone, email, and text — giving you time to prepare. Your performance is measured against a calculated baseline — the amount you would have used if there had been no event — and payment is based on the difference.

Getting Started with Gridwealth Electric

1. Eligibility Review: Contact Gridwealth Electric. We review your 12-month interval data to identify your curtailable load and estimate your earnings potential across all three programs.
2. Program Enrollment: We handle all enrollment paperwork with ISO-NE and your utility. For most customers, there are no upfront costs and no equipment to install — we work with your existing utility meter data.
3. Operational Briefing: We walk your facility team through event response protocols so everyone knows exactly what to do when a curtailment call comes in.
4. Earn and Save: Capacity payments are issued on a monthly basis. Connected Solutions and Cap Tag benefits are settled seasonally. We track performance and provide reporting throughout your contract term.

The Bottom Line

Demand Response isn’t a complicated energy program — it’s a straightforward revenue and savings opportunity that rewards businesses for something they’re likely already capable of doing: reducing electricity use for a few hours, a handful of times per year. The New England grid needs your flexibility. ISO-NE and your utility are willing to pay for it.

Gridwealth Electric connects our commercial and industrial customers — and community choice aggregation partners — to the full suite of New England demand response programs through our experienced Demand Response Partner. We handle the complexity so you can focus on your business.