Demand-side management or DSM refers to active efforts by electric and gas utilities to modify customers` energy use patterns. The experience in the US shows that utilities, when provided with appropriate incentives, can provide a powerful stimulus to energy efficiency in the private sector....

The prudence of utility demand-side management (DSM) investments hinges on their performance, yet evaluating performance is complicated because the energy saved by DSM programs can never be observed directly but only inferred. This study frames and begins to answer the following questions: (1)...

Shared-savings incentives offer a new way for regulated utilities to improve earnings by encouraging customer energy efficiency. Benefits of cost-effective energy efficiency measures can be shared explicitly among customers participating in an utility demand-side management (DSM) program, all...

Recent electricity price spikes are painful reminders of the value that meaningful demand-side responses could bring to the restructuring US electricity system. Review of the aggregate offers made by suppliers confirms that even a modest increase demand elasticity could dramatically reduce these...

This report reviews recent DSM shareholder incentive designs and performance at 10 US utilities identifies opportunities for regulators to improve the design of DSM shareholder incentive mechanisms to increase the procurement of cost-effective DSM resources. We develop six recommendations: (1)...

In this paper, we present key findings from a Database on Energy Efficiency Programs (DEEP) report on commercial lighting programs. In the DEEP report, which is the first in a series, we examine the measured performance of 20 utility-sponsored, demand-side management (DSM), lighting efficiency...

Decoupling revenues from sales is an important regulatory option under consideration by regulators seeking to transform utilities from sellers of a least-cost energy commodity to providers of least-cost energy services. This report examines decoupling from three perspectives. First, the authors...

In 1991, US electric utilities spent almost $1.8 billion on demand-side management (DSM) programs. These programs cut peak demands 5% and reduced electricity sales 1% that year. Utility projections suggest that these reductions will increase to 9% and 3%, respectively, by the year 2001. However,...

Over the past five years, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has been collecting data annually from U.S. electric utilities on their demand-side management (DSM) programs, both current and projected. The latest data cover activities for 1993 and projections for 1994 and 1998. In 1993,...

Historically, regulators imposed resource-planning rules on electric utilities because of the utility`s obligation to serve. Given that obligation, regulators wanted utilities to plan for and procure a portfolio of resources that provided customers with low-cost electricity, stable prices, and a...