Home Network Technologies and Automating Demand Response

Over the past several years, interest in large-scale control of peak energy demand and total consumption has increased. While motivated by a number of factors, this interest has primarily been spurred on the demand side by the increasing cost of energy and, on the supply side by the limited ability of utilities to build sufficient electricity generation capacity to meet unrestrained future demand. To address peak electricity use Demand Response (DR) systems are being proposed to motivate reductions in electricity use through the use of price incentives. DR systems are also be design to shift or curtail energy demand at critical times when the generation, transmission, and distribution systems (i.e. the 'grid') are threatened with instabilities. To be effectively deployed on a large-scale, these proposed DR systems need to be automated. Automation will require robust and efficient data communications infrastructures across geographically dispersed markets. The present availability of widespread Internet connectivity and inexpensive, reliable computing hardware combined with the growing confidence in the capabilities of distributed, application-level communications protocols suggests that now is the time for designing and deploying practical systems. Centralized computer systems that are capable of providing continuous signals to automate customers reduction of power demand, are known as Demand Response Automation Servers (DRAS). The deployment of prototype DRAS systems has already begun - with most initial deployments targeting large commercial and industrial (C & I) customers. An examination of the current overall energy consumption by economic sector shows that the C & I market is responsible for roughly half of all energy consumption in the US. On a per customer basis, large C & I customers clearly have the most to offer - and to gain - by participating in DR programs to reduce peak demand. And, by concentrating on a small number of relatively sophisticated energy consumers, it has been possible to improve the DR 'state of the art' with a manageable commitment of technical resources on both the utility and consumer side. Although numerous C & I DR applications of a DRAS infrastructure are still in either prototype or early production phases, these early attempts at automating DR have been notably successful for both utilities and C & I customers. Several factors have strongly contributed to this success and will be discussed below. These successes have motivated utilities and regulators to look closely at how DR programs can be expanded to encompass the remaining (roughly) half of the state's energy load - the light commercial and, in numerical terms, the more important residential customer market. This survey examines technical issues facing the implementation of automated DR in the residential environment. In particular, we will look at the potential role of home automation networks in implementing wide-scale DR systems that communicate directly to individual residences