On May 5, Navigant Research released a study on the global demand response (DR) market titled Demand Response Enabling Technologies. Navigant forecasts that the market will grow from about $184 million today to $1.3 billion in 2024 in annual spending – a 600 percent increase. Automated DR dispatch, which allows system operators to send signals to DR providers and ultimately to end-use customers to reduce energy consumption, is key to DR expansion. This report focuses on three technology areas that will enable this growth: advanced metering, communications, and controls.
One major caveat to the $1.3 billion forecast is that if the US Supreme Court upholds a district ruling that overturns FERC Order 745, it could create a major impediment to the US DR industry. This order requires wholesale electricity markets to treat DR capacity like dispatchable power generation capacity for pricing purposes. Energy Manager Today reported on May 5 that the Supreme Court has in fact opted to review the lower court’s DR decision.
