September 19, 2007—Demand response and advanced metering programs have grown significantly over the past year, according to a new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) report that charts progress in the number of demand response programs, the number of states introducing opportunities for demand response and the key role that demand response is playing in organized wholesale power markets.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires FERC to annually assess electric demand response resources and advanced metering.
The report, “Assessment of Demand Response and Advanced Metering 2007,” notes major demand response developments in wholesale markets, including the use of demand resources in forward capacity markets and ancillary services markets, and the development of new reliability-based demand response programs.
The report estimates that demand response in 2006 lowered the consumption of electricity by 1.4 to 4.1 percent during periods of peak demand on the systems.
Based on a review of various demand response activities in the last year, Commission staff has identified the following demand-response trends: Increased participation in demand- response programs; increased ability of demand resources to participate in RTO/ISO markets; more attention to the development of a smart grid that can facilitate demand response; more interest in multi-state and state-federal demand response working groups; more reliance on demand response in strategic plans and state plans; and increased activity by third parties to aggregate retail demand response.
The report can be found on the FERC Web site.
