Managing electrical demand through difficult periods: California's experience with demand response

This paper provides a brief overview of California's electricity situation and the relevance of Demand Response (DR) in addressing some of the challenges faced by the State's electricity system. It then discusses California's experience with DR, market rules that influence what role DR plays and attempts to integrate wholesale-retail level program offerings in the State, and some of the key drivers that are likely to enhance the role of DR. Lastly, the paper identifies some of the key challenges facing implementers of DR programs and discusses how many of those challenges could potentially be overcome. (authors)