Energy demand management
Energy demand management plans and applies measures that reduce, shift, or reshape energy use to balance consumption with available supply.
Demand response: Changes in electricity use prompted by incentives, prices, or direct utility requests. It is the operational practice of adjusting consumption in response to grid conditions.
Building energy management system: A system that monitors and controls a building’s energy-consuming equipment. It coordinates HVAC, lighting, and other loads to reduce or reschedule consumption.
Electricity grid: The interconnected infrastructure that generates, transmits, and distributes electricity. Managing demand helps the grid balance fluctuating consumption against available supply.
Load shedding: A deliberate reduction or disconnection of electricity supply to limit system demand. Unlike planned shifting or voluntary reduction, it can interrupt service when supply is insufficient.
Time-of-use pricing: An electricity tariff that sets different prices for different periods of the day. Higher peak-period prices can shift flexible consumption to cheaper hours.
Industrial demand response: Adjustments to industrial electricity use in response to grid needs or market signals. Factories can offer large, controllable loads for peak reduction and grid balancing.
Electricity peak demand: The highest electricity consumption rate recorded over a specified period and area. Reducing this maximum can defer costly generation and network upgrades.
Energy conservation: Reducing energy use by changing behavior or foregoing energy services. Conservation cuts use, whereas management can preserve services by changing their timing.
Peak shaving: Reducing the highest rate of energy consumption during a defined period. Lower peaks ease the supply and network capacity needed to serve demand.
Electric vehicle smart charging: Scheduling electric-vehicle charging to account for electricity prices, grid conditions, or user needs. Charging can be delayed or modulated to avoid adding demand at system peaks.