Do Puget Sound Energy “Flex events” really work? Yes, but not in the way you might think

The text messages and emails are ubiquitous for Puget Sound Energy customers in western Washington. When extreme weather is on the way, there’s a decent chance PSE will reach out asking you to take part in the “Flex event.”

The appeal of Flex events, PSE’s program where it offers customers a rebate to cut back on their electricity use during certain high-demand periods, is simple: lower the strain on the power grid while saving money. But it’s easy to wonder whether your participation, which is completely voluntary, could actually make a difference.

We reached out to PSE and to the Washington State Department of Commerce’s energy division to find out if these events actually make a difference. Here’s what they had to say.

Do PSE Flex events work?

According to PSE, Flex events can reduce the strain on Washington’s electric grid significantly during high-usage periods.

“PSE’s Flex portfolio is currently capable of reducing power demand by approximately 50 to 60 megawatts every time we call an event,” Gerald Tracy, PSE’s media engagement program manager, told McClatchy in an email. “This is a substantial amount of energy.”

It’s not just PSE that thinks the events make a meaningful difference. Glenn Blackmon, director of energy policy at the Department of Commerce, called the program’s impact a “small but meaningful reduction.”

However, the purpose of Flex events might surprise you.

“While Flex events can be a resiliency measure and can make a difference if that type of scenario occurs, these events are not currently being called to reduce the likelihood of an outage,” Tracy said.

Instead, the primary goal is to drive down energy costs the rest of the year, according to both PSE and the Department of Commerce.

“The concept of it is if utilities can trim even just a little bit of demand during periods when electricity use is at the highest, they can do quite well for customers by keeping prices down and also do a better job of making sure there’s enough power to meet customer demand during those periods,” Blackmon told McClatchy in a video call.

Blackmon said this is a relatively common strategy across a range of other industries as well.

“It’s not just utilities, there’s lots of systems out there that have to plan for the period when usage is at its highest, and that can end up meaning that you have some pretty expensive resources that you’re only using a very small amount of time over the course of a year or even multiple years,” Blackmon said. “So if you can flatten out the demand a little bit, you can save money and improve reliability.”

Are Flex events related to transition to clean energy?

The use of voluntary usage reduction strategy in the energy sector is relatively new.

“There used to be almost no concern for meeting demand during peak periods,” Blackmon said.

Hydroelectric power systems, which the U.S. Energy Information Administration says account for 60% of electricity generated in Washington, are considered more flexible than other forms of renewable energy, since their energy source, a flowing body of water, is always present. As a result, energy production can be ramped up more quickly, even as the state transitions its power grid to renewable energy. However, hydropower production has declined in recent years as the state has faced drought and a low snow pack.

While PSE acknowledged that the energy landscape is undergoing “monumental change,” it maintains that the ability to meet demand is never in question, even during high-usage periods.

“Although PSE initiates these events, the electric grid is working properly and there are no concerns about meeting customer demand,” Tracy said.

Instead, Tracy said that Flex events are simply an opportunity to save customers money while the company can reduce the strain on its infrastructure. So why do they seem like a recent advent? According to Blackmon, energy efficient home technology has made it easier for residential customers to cut back on consumption.

“It used to be that this was a difficult concept to implement,” Blackmon said. “You could really only do it with the big customers. You’d call up the mill or the refinery or something like that and say, ‘Hey, could you cut back five megawatts in the next hour? And if so, we’ll give you a better rate.’ But with the development of smart devices like thermostats and electric vehicle chargers, and smart meters that PSE has installed, they’ve been able to include residential and commercial customers in programs like this.”

How can PSE customers participate in Flex events?

PSE offers several different Flex event enrollment options, including its “set it and forget it” program, Flex Smart, that takes advantage of smart thermostats to automatically conserve energy during peak periods. If you enroll, you receive $50 per device up front, and $40 per device for each year you’re enrolled.

Customers can also choose PSE’s Flex Rewards program, which allows customers to choose which events to participate in. The program pays $1 for each kilowatt hour conserved during a Flex event, in addition to $25 upon enrollment and $15 for each year you stay enrolled.

Tracy says that 70,000 customers were enrolled in some sort of Flex program as of December of 2024. All customers receive notifications about the events unless they opt out. Customers who aren’t enrolled can also participate in Flex events but without the additional rebates.

How does PSE decide when to call a Flex event?

According to Tracy, the decision to hold a Flex event is based on patterns in past electricity use and upcoming weather.

“PSE forecasts periods expected to have a heightened energy demand based on historical electricity usage and anticipated weather. Flex events occur on days when demand for electricity is forecasted to peak, typically on days that are hotter or colder than normal,” Tracy said. “When our system operators identify periods of peak demand, they call a Flex event to help mitigate the impacts of a peak demand period.”

Even when the power grid can handle high-demand periods, PSE says Flex events are becoming an increasingly important tool for a number of reasons.

“Conservation has long been a key strategy for utilities, and requests to save energy in extreme weather are becoming the new normal,” Tracy said. “In the short term, conservation is one of the simplest, cheapest ways to immediately reduce strain on the system. In the long term, conservation helps offset the amount of generation resources we need to have on hand to meet customer demand during peak use.”

This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 8:23 AM.