By definition, effective and efficient competitive markets need a supply side and a demand side. One criticism of electric restructuring efforts in many states is that most of the attention has been focused on the supply side, in a market focused on the short term. In general, the demand side of the market has been under-addressed. The objective of the New England Demand Response Initiative (NEDRI) is to develop a comprehensive, coordinated set of demand response programs for the New England regional power markets. NEDRI aims to maximize the capability of demand response to compete in the wholesale market and to improve the economic efficiency and environmental profile of the electric sector. To those ends, NEDRI is focusing its efforts in four interrelated areas: (1) ISO-level reliability programs, (2) Market-based price-responsive load programs, (3) Demand response at retail through pricing, rate design, and advanced metering, and (4) End-use energy efficiency resources as demand response. The fourth area, energy efficiency, is the subject of this framing paper. Energy efficiency reduces the energy used by specific end-use devices and systems, typically without affecting the level of service and without loss of amenity. Energy savings and peak load reductions are achieved by substituting technically more advanced equipment, processes, or operational strategies to produce the same or an improved level of end-use service with less electricity. In contrast, load management programs lower peak demand during specific, limited time periods by either (1) influencing the timing of energy use by shifting load to another time period, or (2) reducing the level of energy use by curtailing or interrupting the load, typically with some loss of service or amenity.
