It’s been almost a year since the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Order No. 745. This landmark ruling was intended to effectively level the playing field for demand-response (DR) resources in energy markets across the United States. As we approach the anniversary of Order No. 745 next month (FERC issued the Order on March 15, 2011), I’ve noticed increased utility interest in the topic, especially regarding current technical changes in the market (AutoDR and openADR) and among utilities that want to offer more-robust and advanced DR programs to customers (demand response 2.0) that are beyond the traditional model of using DR only in emergency situations. I thought I’d share a few insights I recently gleaned from my own research on the topic. First, some quick-and-dirty background info.

A long, long time ago (actually not so long ago) in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress directed FERC to remove the unnecessary barriers to DR resources participating in organized wholesale electricity markets. Last March, FERC met this obligation with Order No. 745. The landmark ruling basically requires grid operators to pay DR resources the same ...