From Demand Management to Load Management

Making the Most of Existing Infrastructure

In light of rising infrastructure costs and evolving federal policy—such as changes in tariff structures—it has become more critical than ever for utilities to extract maximum value from existing grid assets. Rather than relying on new capital investments, a smarter strategy focuses on leveraging flexible demand as a resource in its own right.

From Demand Management to Load Management

Historically, most utilities have approached this challenge through a demand management lens—primarily focused on peak shaving. But this view is too narrow in today’s grid environment. With the rapid growth of distributed energy resources (DERs) capable of bi-directional flows, utilities must evolve toward load management: optimizing when, where, and how electricity is consumed, stored, or returned to the grid.

Unfortunately, regulatory and organizational silos often isolate critical tools—Demand Response (DR), Energy Efficiency (EE), rate design, and transportation electrification—into separate initiatives. This fragmentation limits opportunities to coordinate flexible resources and unlock system-wide value.

Beyond Peak Shaving: A Systems Thinking Approach

Realize 2050 helps utilities move past this fragmented model with a systems thinking approach that integrates DR, EE, pricing, and DER solutions under a unified framework. Particularly at the distribution level, effective load management must consider both time and location. For example, in California, grid constraints are driven less by annual peaks and more by localized evening ramp-ups—such as the drop-off in solar around 8 PM during summer.

The key is deploying solutions that shift or reduce load in specific feeders at precise times, thereby deferring or avoiding costly infrastructure upgrades.

Measuring Flexible Load

Advances in AI are increasingly making it possible for utilities to quantify and prioritize their behind-the-meter resources. Novel tools leveraged by Realize 2050 make it possible to identify the amount of load shift possible at each given price signal for a particular customer segment and time of day.

By mapping diverse load types—residential air conditioning, commercial HVAC, EV charging, industrial processes, and more—utilities can:

• Pinpoint elastic loads (like EV charging) that respond to low-cost price signals.

• Identify inelastic loads (like HVAC during heatwaves) for which pricing is likely to be a less effective tool than EE or DR

• Calculate how much total load flexibility exists at different price levels to prioritize the most cost-effective strategies.

This clarity allows for precision designing and targeting of load management programs—avoiding overpayment for loads that won't budge while maximizing flexibility at the lowest cost.

Learn More

Want to dive deeper? Explore the Supply and Load sections of PG&E’s 2024 R&D Strategy report, co-developed by Realize 2050, which outlines how thoughtful load management can help get more out of existing grid assets.

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