Demand-side Management Strategies and the Residential Sector: Lessons from International Experience

Abstract

This paper explores demand side management (DSM) strategies, including both demand response and energy efficiency policies. The aim is to uncover what features might strengthen DSM effectiveness. We first look at key features of residential energy demand and the limits to energy indicators. We then turn to historical energy intensity trends in the sector which uncover its large untapped potential. A range of barriers to energy efficiency accounting for this gap are surveyed as well as a number of potential policy responses. This reveals the necessity of a portfolio approach with bundled strategies that simultaneously impact different parts of the market, enhance the strengths of individual measures while compensating for their weaknesses through the use of complementary policies. Evidence from the international experience, in Denmark, Germany, Japan, and US is reviewed. This helps us to contrast and shed some light on the UK experience. We conclude with an emphasis on the need for a holistic underpinning approach and the indentification of a number of attributes that reinforce DSM strategies.