Making demand response a reality: developing a supportive regulatory framework.

Peak load management programs, now being called demand response programs, appear to have fallen between the regulatory cracks as electricity moves from monopoly to competitive markets. Many legacy programs for load curtailment, time-of-use rates, real time pricing, and other demand response efforts disappeared in states with retail electric choice. In states still operating with monopoly providers at the retail level, investments in demand response have also been limited due to uncertainties about their future.

This lag of interest has been caused in part by the need to resolve other market structuring questions by regulatory authorities. Priority has been given ...