ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the broad issues of demand-side planning ranging from motives for considering energy efficiency, to techniques for analyzing the cost-effectiveness of alternatives, and to analyses of implementation issues. Embracing the demand side can offer a utility a broad range of alternatives for reducing or modifying load during a particular time of the day, during a certain season, or annually. In some cases, reviews of demand response, energy efficiency, and deploy new efficient uses have emphasized the impacts of a single alternative with little discussion on how that alternative was first selected. Discussion here focuses on a three-level hierarchy in utility planning related to demand-side activities: establishing broad objectives, setting specific operational objectives, and determining desired load shape modifications. Although customers and providers can act independently to alter the pattern of demand, the concept of demand-side planning implies a relationship that produces mutually beneficial results between providers and customers.
