Setting objectives for Demand-Side Management. Topic report 1

This report is the first in a series being developed under Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) RP2548, Demand-Side Management (DSM), which will integrate the data, information, and tools pertaining to utilities' ability to influence their load levels and shapes. This report focuses on the utility environment, planning processes, and analytical requirements bearing on the setting and implementation of DSM objectives. The report first explores the reasons why many utilities have found it difficult to develop DSM objectives and concludes that organizational and cultural factors explain much of the difficulty. It next provides a general framework covering five major planning steps. Then it discusses the analytical requirements of objective setting, stressing the distinction between DSM and supply-side planning. It concludes with a case study of the DSM objectives-setting process at Carolina Power and Light Company.