Abstract
Energy efficiency (EE) and demand response (DR) resources provide important utility systems and ratepayer benefits. At the same time, the rapid change in the amount and type of variable renewable energy, like solar and wind, is reshaping the role and economic value of EE and DR, and will likely affect the time-dependent valuation of EE and DR measures. Utilities are increasingly interested in integrating EE and DR measures as a strategic approach to improve their collective cost-effectiveness and performance. We develop a framework to identify the EE and DR attributes, system conditions, and technological factors that are likely to drive interactions between EE and DR. We apply the framework to example measures with different technology specifics in the context of different utility system conditions. We find that EE and DR interactions are likely driven by changes in discretionary load, the addition of controls or other capabilities to shift loads, and the coincidence of savings with system peak or load building periods. Our analysis suggests increasing complexity in evaluating EE and DR interactions when moving from standalone equipment to integrated systems. The framework can be applied to research on integrated building systems by grouping measures into portfolios with different likely implications for EE and DR interactions.
Highlights
Integrating energy efficiency (EE) and demand response (DR) can drive significant reductions in electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector, as well as provide important utility systems and ratepayer benefits
We develop a limited number of utility system prototypes intended to generalize the system conditions that we consider the most significant for EE and DR interactions
DR investment; and (2) the change in capability reflects whether and how the building is more or less able to reliably provide a responsive or flexible resource when needed by the utility
Summary
Integrating energy efficiency (EE) and demand response (DR) can drive significant reductions in electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector, as well as provide important utility systems and ratepayer benefits. The proliferation of distributed generation (DG) has reduced utility retail sales and changed the timing of net peak demand. The diurnal patterns and volatility of wholesale prices are changing due, in part, to large increases in utility-scale renewable generation resources with zero marginal costs [11]. These changes will likely affect the time-dependent valuation of EE and DR measures [12].
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