Demand response. It’s a cost-effective energy resource that pays customers to use less energy. Few people even know exists, but it invisibly impacts the life of so many Americans. It’s a clean energy resource that embodies precisely what electricity can and should be: cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient than traditional fuel sources.
We’ve written about demand response at length, discussing a potential case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving the resource and what the road ahead could look like. Today, however, we’re telling the story of how the resource got here.
It’s a story rooted in change and evolution, founded upon technological innovation and new ways of thinking. In a world where the energy arrow has pointed in one direction for over 100 years, from power plant to plug, demand response is now answering the question, “Would empowering customers to save money help strengthen our electricity grid?” – with an emphatic affirmative. And, as with any story of change and innovation, this tale unfolds in a world governed by long-standing forces: the energy industry.
A greater paradigm shift is already underway in this industry that ensures light appears at the flick of a switch, and air conditioners turn on at the press of a button. It is a transition made all the more momentous given the electric grid’s reigning status as the “largest machine ever built.” And, it is a change that can unlock lower electricity bills, a smarter electric grid, and reduced air pollution.
Demand response will play a vitally important role in this future, regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision. But, its story – the how and why of this resource – is an important one to tell.
Read the full story on Medium here: “How the Electricity World has Changed: Demand Response and the Story of this Clean Energy Resource”
Image source: John Rae