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After nearly three decades of experience with Demand Side Management (DSM), controversy remains over how effective these programs have been. This book considers micro-level analyses that explore both demand-side solutions and supply-side interventions. On the demand side, models are estimated to provide in-depth evidence of end-user consumption patterns for each North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) region. The empirical evidence demonstrates that there is substantial regional variability of reductions in peak demand. These results are quite robust in the in rapidly-urbanizing regions, where air conditioning and lighting load is substantial higher. On the supply side, the effectiveness of DSM programs is estimated by analyzing the growth of capacity margin with the introduction of DSM programs. The results indicate that DSM has been successful in offsetting the need for additional capacity by the means of demand response measures, but the success is limited to only a few regions. The rate of progress in future will depend on a wide range of improved technologies and a continuous government monitoring for successful adoption of DSM to manage growing energy demand.
About the author
Prachi Gupta (1978) obtained her PhD in Public Policy and Political Economy from the University of Texas with an emphasis on Demand Side Management. She is currently working at Luminant, a subsidiary of Energy Future Holdings Corporation, a Texas-based utility.
