by Rebecca Walker — February 2, 2009—A recent report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) finds that demand response and advanced metering programs are rapidly gaining ground throughout the United States.
Both technologies are aspects of the “Smart Grid,” a concept that involves adding Internet-like communication technologies and control technologies to the nation’s electrical grid.
Advanced meters can provide two-way communication between customers and their electric utility, giving utilities detailed information about electrical loads and power outages while giving customers the option to adjust their energy use in response to real-time utility rates. Demand response is more of a control technology, allowing utilities to turn off, delay, or cycle the customer’s use of electrical equipment (such as air conditioners) during times of peak demand.
But demand response is also a communication technology, because it sometimes includes a capability to notifying customers of power cutbacks and may allow customers to override the utility controls.
The FERC report is the third annual report on these technologies, and it notes that 4.7% of the electrical meters in the United States are now advanced meters, up from less than 1% in 2006. Likewise, 8% of energy consumers in the US are now participating in some type of demand response program.
The total electrical demand that can be shed through demand response programs is now at 5.8% of US peak demand, or close to 41,000 megawatts, a more than tenfold increase from the 2006 estimate of about 3,400 megawatts.
For more information, see the FERC press release, as well as Chapter 2 of the DOE report.
