{"id":863,"date":"2013-10-16T10:27:54","date_gmt":"2013-10-16T15:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allenergyconsulting.com\/blog\/?p=863"},"modified":"2013-10-18T10:55:23","modified_gmt":"2013-10-18T15:55:23","slug":"demand-response-dr-demand-side-management-dsm-insights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allenergyconsulting.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/16\/demand-response-dr-demand-side-management-dsm-insights\/","title":{"rendered":"Demand Response (DR) & Demand Side Management (DSM) Insights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Demand Response (DR) & Demand Side Management (DSM) are very hot topics that are interrelated\u00a0however\u00a0was broken apart in the ScottMadden Energy Industry Update<\/a>. The ScottMadden Energy Industry Update<\/a> addresses the DR and DSM discussion,albeit with an unexpected slide on the nuclear power sector in between. There are not many insights to offer on nuclear, other than nuclear waste being very expensive for taxpayers and\u00a0gas prices are impacting\u00a0renewal of existing plants.\u00a0 \u00a0I can offer insights on DSM, particularly as it relates to the utility industry. I believe utilities can be, as effective if not more effective in DSM roles than third parties. It is just a matter of aligning the incentives for the utilities similar to the third parties. If this happens, I suspect many will be crying wolf.<\/p>\n

I have spent time working in the DSM (DR and efficiency)\u00a0space for utilities. Similar to the insights derived in my previous ScottMadden Energy Industry Update executive summary<\/a>, the utilities need to change business model. This includes their approach to demand related options. Society and the commissions and are siding with the capability of\u00a0efficiency programs due in part to some results coming from the western states energy intensity over time, but I believe that may be overly optimistic. I cautioned the extent of the results from the western states being translated to the rest of the country, as western states saw a migration of industry on which the rest are more dependent.\u00a0In addition, the climate is more temperate in the west, which leads to the ability to be easily more efficient.\u00a0\u00a0 Energy intensity is not the best metric as it covers up the underlying changes and issues. DSM is a detailed\u00a0process since it\u00a0focuses in on what your customer uses energy for.\u00a0 If\u00a0your customer uses\u00a0heat pumps to stay warm as their primary energy usage, implementing a large light bulb program will only get you so far compare to places like California.\u00a0\u00a0 Besides all that caution, DSM does have a place and the utilities can create a win-win situation. They just need to change the model.<\/p>\n

All Energy Consulting has experience facilitating such a change to the model in the following roles:<\/p>\n