Integration of demand response into wholesale electricity markets

Responding to declining reserves and stakeholder and customer needs, reforms are being made in wholesale electricity markets across the country to address demand response and market pricing, enabling load resources to actively participate in markets. Critical reforms include the acceptance of bids from demand response resources in their markets for energy and ancillary services comparable to other resources, elimination of charges to buyers for taking less energy in a real-time market then purchased in a day-ahead market when in a state of emergency, the ability for demand response providers/aggregators to bid demand response on behalf of retail customers, and modifying market rules to allow market-clearing prices that maintain reliability through the supply and demand mechanism. New market-based reliability services such as Emergency Interruptive Load (EILS) in ERCOT and price responsive approaches such as the NYISO's Demand Side Ancillary Service Program (DSASP) that provides for synchronous reserve, regulation or non-spinning reserve are all representative of the reforms being seen across the country to facilitate the direct and active participation of demand response resources.