ABSTRACT
Load management has traditionally taken place at the end users, e.g., manual deferral of loads by switching appliances on and off. In cases where the load management is effectuated by a computerized algorithm, the data handling may in principle be taking place centrally at the electric utility company or decentralized at the user. The first solution is advocated by Chiu, Stewart, and McManus (2012). However, most investigators find it essential that the utility company cannot summarily switch off loads on the user’s premises without some kind of consent (on a case-by-case basis or in terms of a more general category type of permissions). This would perhaps favor the solutions where data storage takes place locally and control is exerted by a local computer with proper information from the power provider displayed to the building inhabitants and the possibility, in specific cases, to bypass even rules that have been agreed upon generally.
