Integrating demand-side management into utility planning

The authors review the role that customer-oriented demand-side management (DSM) can plan in utility planning, discuss its current state of application, provide a framework for incorporating uncertainty in DSM programs, and present ideas on how DSM programs can be implemented and monitored. They conclude that DSM provides a workable solution to some of the major problems confronting electric utilities today. DSM offers utility management many alternatives to improving customer satisfaction and maintaining good customer relations in the increasingly competitive area of electric supply, besides improving the utility's financial health. Decision analysis can provide a sound basis for selecting DSM alternatives in an environment of uncertainty. Finally, DSM provides an implementable mechanism to incorporate utility and customer requirements into integrated planning procedures.>