New technologies will help old-fashioned customers fight energy-prices.

Demand Response is still under development and we are still far from seeing the full scope of how customers (and their appliances) in the future will be able to "negotiate" on-line for prices, terms and deliveries. One thing is quite certain and that is that new technologies are required. For metering and for communications but also for what they in the U.S. call "Grid-friendly appliances". Such could respond to frequency- or voltage-drops but also to signals and programmes with built in chips and the concept is described in the US DOE Road-map. And an example of a frequency-responsive coffee-machine (see below) and other applications have been shown in presentations to PLMA-conferences. 

But getting into position to provide a full Demand Response concept is not only about metering and appliances but even more about business-models and maybe also regulation. The good idea of price-responsive active customers have been recognised by e.g. the Nordic System Operators organisation, Nordel (currently integrated within ENTSOE), which has made a survey of the possibilities to enhance the demand response. The report observes many barriers and it might be, as can be read between the lines, that some companies operating on the market prefer that customers remain as price-takers.

There are also several organisations involved in research in the matters, such as the IEA in which the DSM-Programme has created a DR project in which several of its member countries already participate.

Sooner or later the pieces will fall into place and new technology will enable also ordinary customers to participate in Load-Management whether it is because of the price or because of a citizens perspective to prevent black-outs in the system.

Table: US Road-map for load-managed applications

Photo from presentation by Donald J. Hammerstrom, PNNL, at PLMA conference October 2005.