Measure Twice, Cut Once

Demand response (DR), in broad terms, is a change in electricity use by end-use customers within a day or less in response to some type of incentive or price signal. Measurement and evaluation are important for DR operations and improvement. In the context of DR programs, measurement typically refers to estimation of demand reduction for specific customers or for the program as a whole. This is the focus of the discussion here. Other customer and system effects associated with the reduction may also be measured. Some types of DR require explicit measurement of each customer's reduction as a basis for calculating the customer's incentives and/or penalty payments.