Demand response programs to date have largely relied on a labor-intensive approach that has required operators in different customer sites to manually turn off lights, HVAC equipment, and other energy consuming systems to control peak demand and balance loads on the grid.  Automated demand response (Auto-DR) systems have become an important alternative to conventional DR by automating the communication and dispatch systems to respond to event and price signals from a utility, grid operator, or a curtailment services provider (CSP) – often in minutes or even seconds.  Although it has already been used by the utility industry for many years, it has not been widely deployed. However, with the upcoming launch of a non-proprietary, open communications standard for Auto-DR, referred to as OpenADR, this situation is likely to change.

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