Demand response (DR) revenues for the United States commercial buildings market could be worth $712.5m by 2018, according to a report by Navigant Research.
Growth in DR for commercial sites is also being driven by expanding deployments of smart meters and advanced metering infrastructure, which are expected to pick up in the small and medium-sized market segment.
This development will make it considerably easier for businesses and institutions to participate in the economic DR market, where they can take advantage of dynamic pricing to obtain reduced rate structures, according to the report.
“To date, the majority of the commercial customers engaging in DR programs have been large businesses and institutions,” said Marianne Hedin, senior research analyst with Navigant Research.
“Now, utilities, grid operators, and curtailment service providers are turning their attention to underserved small and medium-sized commercial business and institutional customers, which account for a significant number of facilities and sites that can contribute a considerable amount of load curtailment during a peak event.”
