The modern energy industry faces many diverse issues, ranging from increasing demand and rising energy costs to variable supply and environmental concerns. In order to address all of these issues, the industry as a whole must take a holistic approach as it transitions to a better grid model. The same holds true for the challenge of addressing demand response in the industry, as its various challenges require a big picture approach to achieve optimal results. To begin on that path, the first step is acknowledging how important demand response actually is. It can be overshadowed by the load of energy used by commercial and industrial (C&I) space, but there are good reasons to pay attention to residential demand response.
For starters, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) states that the residential sector accounts for 20 percent of the total energy demand in the country, which is a pretty decent portion of the total pie. A decent enough portion that it certainly shouldn’t be ignored when determining how to address energy usage challenges in the industry. Curtailing energy usage in the residential sector could have significant affects on the industry as a whole.
Not only is residential energy consumption already 20 percent of the total country usage, but its share of the overall industry is also increasing. The average size of a house is increasing and the EIA has predicted that the total residential square footage of the United States will increase by about 41 percent by the year 2040. Being able to better manage residential energy as it rapidly increases in the future could have a huge affect on managing the energy load overall, especially as demand response programs have also proved to show both financial and environmental benefits. As residential consumers are encouraged to participate in energy saving programs and become more openly communicative with their utilities, avenues for increased engagement and more effective programs become more easily accessible.
Read the full article here: 5 Reasons Why Residential Demand Response Matters
