Review of Current Southern California Edison Load Management Programs and Proposal for a New Market-Driven, Mass-Market, Demand-Response Program

Utility load management programs, including direct load control and interruptible load programs, constitute a large installed base of controllable loads that are employed by utilities as system reliability resources. In response to energy supply shortfalls expected during the summer of 2001, the California Public Utilities Commission in spring 2001 authorized new utility load management programs as well as revisions to existing programs. This report provides an independent review of the designs of these new programs for a large utility (Southern California Edison) and suggests possible improvements to enhance the "price responsiveness" of the customer actions influenced by these programs. The report also proposes a new program to elicit a mass-market demand response to utility price signals.