A New Definition and Research Agenda for Demand Response in the Distributed Energy Resource Era
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Demand response is a concept that has been around since the very first electric power systems. However, we have seen an explosion of research on demand response and demand-side technologies in the past 30 years, coinciding with the shift towards liberalized/deregulated electricity markets and efforts to decarbonize the power sector. Now we are also seeing a shift towards more distributed/decentralized electric systems; we have entered the era of “distributed energy resources”, which require new grid management, operational, and control strategies. Given this paradigm shift, we argue that the concept of demand response needs to be revisited, and more carefully/consistently defined to enable us to better utilize this massive resource for economic, technical, environmental, and societal aims. In this paper, we survey existing demand response definitions, highlight their shortcomings, propose a new definition, describe how this new definition enables us to more effectively harness the value of demand response, and provide a demand response research agenda informed by a discussion of existing demand response barriers and enablers
Authors: Johanna L. Mathieu, Gregor Verbič, Thomas Morstyn, Mads R. Almassalkhi, Kyri Baker, Julio Braslavsky, Kenneth Bruninx, Yury Dvorkin, Gregory S. Ledva, Nariman Mahdavi, Hrvoje Pandžić, Alessandra Parisio, Vedran S. Perić
Institutions: University of Michigan, The University of Sydney, University of Oxford, University of Vermont, University of Colorado Boulder, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Delft University of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb, University of Manchester, University of Bayreuth
Language: English
Topic: Smart Grid Energy Management
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,645
OpenAlex ID: W6959566505