Publish Date: February 6, 2018
The report examines potential for savings from reducing peak demand using three different market strategies: curtailing commercial and industrial electricity demand; installing more smart thermostats across Indiana’s residential sector; and deploying energy storage technologies.
Examining the impact of these strategies under scenarios representative of avoided costs in Indiana, the analysis shows that net benefits for electric ratepayers (total savings minus costs) range from $448 million to $2.3 billion over 10 years.
Demand response strategies, which shave peak loads or shift them to off-peak hours, can be cost-effective alternatives to costly construction of new generation resources that sit idle most of the year. Energy storage technologies like batteries achieve similar benefits by storing energy at times when it is plentiful for use during peak hours.
The same strategies could save from 1,500 to 4,800 megawatts of electric capacity through 2027, significantly offsetting Indiana’s need for additional generating capacity over the next decade.
Please fill out the form to download the report.