Dive Brief:
- Human beings are ultimately unpredictable and "behavior alone does not guarantee response" to requests for load reduction, says Blake Young, CEO of Comverge, an energy management company.
- Automation is the key to ensuring demand response is not just a demand request, Young argues in a guest post on Greentech Media. "Without guaranteed action, there is not a guaranteed result. This is the stark difference between 'demand request' and 'demand response.'"
- Demand response is used when the reliability of the grid is in question, Young says, and in such situations the "speed and predictability" of load reduction "isn't merely a luxury: it's essential."
Dive Insight:
Young makes a good point: automation would make demand response a far more "predictable, reliable resource for utilities." The trick lies in convincing customers to opt in. Only a small percentage of energy consumers today participate in demand response programs, whether automated or not.