Demand Response is one of many resources needed to satisfy the increasing demand for electricity in North America. In addition to providing capacity for resource adequacy and planning purposes, capacity and ancillary services provided by Demand Response help ensure resource adequacy while providing operators with additional flexibility in maintaining operating reliability. However, Demand Response is still a relatively new resource, and both NERC and stakeholders need to measure its performance in order to gauge its benefits and impacts on reliability. Better performance measures will also help develop industry confidence in Demand Response use.
In early 2008, NERC established the Demand Response Availability Data System Working Group (DADSWG) based on a recommendation from the Demand-Side Management Task Force (DSMTF). The recommendation stated that industry needed a more systematic approach for collecting and quantifying Demand Response performance. In its final report, Data Collection for Demand-Side Management for Quantifying its Influence on Reliability, the DSMTF concluded a uniform system measuring delivered Demand Response performance together with a system to collect these performance data on an ongoing basis should be established by NERC. The DADSWG has specified statistics to quantify Demand Response performance and the data collection requirements referred to as DADS.
The goal of the DADS is to collect Demand Response enrollment and event information to measure its actual performance, Including its contribution to improved reliability. Ultimately, this analysis can provide industry with a basis for projecting contributions of dispatchable and non-dispatchable (e.g., price-driven) Demand Response, supporting forecast adequacy and operational reliability. DADS specification provides a consistent and timely basis for counting and validating the contributions at the Balancing Area level.
The DADSWG proposes to implement DADS in two initial phases. DADS Phase I and Phase II both support the collection of dispatchable Demand Response that are used to support bulk power system reliability. The Phase I pilot program will establish a voluntary reporting system to collect dispatchable and controllable Demand Response event data while beta-testing an Internet-based system to receive the submittals. This pilot program, launched in 2010, tests both the ability of wholesale and retail electricity organizations to provide the requested data, as well as the ability of NERC systems to receive it. Phase I uses Excel spreadsheets to collect data in a standard template. Phase II data submittal includes a mandatory data request for all electricity organizations operating or administrating dispatchable and controllable Demand Response programs.
If you have questions or need assistance, please contact dads@nerc.net.
