Determining DR Potential and Benefits - New Research Results

Some of the questions one constantly hears in the world of demand response are “How much DR is there?”  “What is the potential for DR as a resource?”  How do I quantify the benefits?  How can we know how much DR we can rely on?  

These are legitimate questions and ones many different audiences - not the least of which are policy makers - want to know the answers to.  The next offering in the DRCC Webinar Series will present the latest research in this area and discuss some of the ways these questions can be answered.  Our presenters will be:

Chuck was the lead on a recent project funded by the Department of Energy's [DOE] Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability that reviewed analytical methods and data that can support market assessments (e.g., for dynamic pricing tariffs) or market potential studies (e.g., for programmatic demand response) that can support these functions.  The report specifically looked at the following:

a review of methods for estimating demand response and energy                          efficiency market potential

a proposed conceptual framework for estimating market potential for large customer demand response

participation rates and elasticity values compiled from six large customer dynamic pricing and demand response programs

several scenarios that demonstrate the estimation of large customer demand response market potential in an illustrative utility service territory

a research agenda that identifies additional information and improved methods that would support more reliable demand response market assessments

Sam was the lead on a recent study performed for the Mid-Atlantic Distributed Resources Initiative (MADRI) and PJM Interconnection that attempted to quantify the impact of demand curtailment on wholesale prices and customer costs in the MADRI States and in the broader PJM region.

Specifically, the study used a simulation-based approach to quantify the market impact of curtailing 3% of load in the BGE, Delmarva, PECO, PEPCO, and PSEG zones during the top twenty 5-hour price blocks in 2005 and under a variety of alternative market conditions. Based on an assumption that all loads (i.e., customers or their retail providers) are exposed to spot prices, the study estimated price reductions could benefit non-curtailed loads in MADRI states by $57-$182 million per year. The potential benefits to the entire PJM system amount to $65-$203 million per year. This study also provides a rough estimate of benefits to DR program participants, from both an energy and capacity standpoint.

Chuck Goldman, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Sam Newell, Brattle Group

      Dan Delurey, U.S. Demand Response Coordinating Committee

The DRCC is a 501 c 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the development and exchange of information about demand response.  

More on the DRCC can be found at: www.demandresponseinfo.org.

Members of the DRCC include American Electric Power, Ameren, Arizona Public Resource, Hess Corporation, Hunt Power, IBM, ISO-New England, MidAmerican Energy, Midwest ISO, National Grid, NYSERDA, Pacific Gas & Electric, PJM Interconnection, Progress Energy, San Diego Gas & Electric, Salt River Project, Southern California Edison, Southern Company, Tennessee Valley Authority, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, and Xcel Energy.