April 18, 2005—A new study by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) examines recent experience with demand response (DR) programs across the United States and seeks to better understand the relationship between demand response and energy efficiency, says ACEEE.
The study raises timely issues as the continued growth of electricity demand is putting stress on the U.S. power grid and leading to a resurgence of interest in “demand-side” resource strategies, the council says.
The Midwest blackouts and price spikes in 1999, California’s energy crisis of 20002001, and the great Northeast blackout of 2003 were warnings of the very real risks of price spikes and system outages that many states and regions face today, and DR is being touted as one form of insurance against those risks.
DR programs have become increasingly popular among utilities and other electricity service providers, building on similar types of customer load management programs that have been in place since the 1980s, according to the council.
Despite the rise of DR programs, the ACEEE study found that there has been little research on how such programs and initiatives affect customer energy consumption at times other than the relatively short periods of peak demand, ACEEE notes.
Exploring the Relationship Between Demand Response and Energy Efficiency: A Review of Experience and Discussion of Key Issues includes a review of leading studies of DR programs, analysis and discussion of conflicts and synergies between energy efficiency and DR, and a summary of expert opinion on integrated approaches to customer energy services. The main body of the report is available for electronic download at no charge.
The report plus all the appendices is available in hard copy for $55 plus $5 for shipping and handling. For more information, contact ACEEE.
