The 2nd Edition of Research Reports International's Using Demand Response as a Resource report is a 40-page look at how demand response can be used as a resource to maximize system reliability while minimizing system cost.

Changing power flows and growing price volatility have made it more difficult to ensure system reliability and moderate peak hour prices. During times when the electric system is constrained due to high demand, grid operators have two choices. They can either produce more electricity to meet demand or they can call upon some of their customers to reduce their load.

Using Demand Response as a Resource aims to provide the reader with a thorough understanding of what demand response is, the benefits it can provide, and how it can be used as a resource. It also aims to provide an understanding of the barriers preventing greater use of demand response as a resource and what can be done to overcome them. It offers industry participants the information they need to begin considering demand response as a viable resource in both utility and transmission planning processes.

Topics covered in the report include:

• Overview of demand response
• Description of the different types of demand response programs
• Analysis of the current utility planning process and the role demand response currently plays in resource planning 
• Identification of the positive system impacts provided by demand response
• Discussion of the ancillary services that can be provided by demand response
• Evaluation of the challenges to using demand response as a resource
• Analysis of the different methods for valuing demand response
• Overview of the transmission planning process for grid operators
• Evaluation of how demand response is treated in transmission planning
• Discussion of the current use of demand response as a resource

Using Demand Response as a Resource comes in Adobe Acrobat PDF format and is available via electronic download, CD-ROM, or Hardcopy for $299.