Role of Demand Side Management for power distribution utility in India

A major challenge for India's policy makers is to determine how best to provide the necessary energy for India's extraordinary economic growth. The traditional approach has been to rely on increasing the supply of conventional energy resources, particularly coal, which accounts for nearly 70% of India's current energy consumption. Yet energy is not an economic output that must be maximized at all costs. Rather, it is an input to the generation of goods and services, such as heating, lighting, mobility, industrial products, and consumer goods. Demand Side management (DSM) is considered as a new facet in Indian power industry to solve the problems of power shortage and energy shortage. Load management or rather peak power management is the only focus of DSM programs in Indian utilities. "Load shedding" is the main tool for load management across the utility in all state in India. DSM in its true sense is yet to be implemented in Indian power market. Demand Side Management involves steps taken by the customer on their meter to change and regulate the amount or timing of energy consumption. Power supply utilities offer a variety of measures that can reduce energy consumption and consumer energy expenses. To mitigate the acute shortage of power in the country, Utilities are faced with the challenge to enhance end-use efficiency and manage the power demands of the country for sustainable and environment-friendly development. This paper describes role of DSM and its benefit to migrate the growing energy crisis in India.