Demand Side management in Indian Power Utilities

Electric utilities in India are today looking at demand side manage men I as an important and integral strategy for addressing the challenges of chronic peak and energy shortages, improving access and affordability of power. At the governmental level, a number of policy and regulatory initiatives have been taken in this regard in recent years. The utilities are being mandated to draw up cost-effective demand side management action plans and programs and prioritize them as per their specific needs. In this context, the utilities are looking for accelerated deployment, of energy efficien t. appliances and processes in the different consumer segments; effective utilization of the. developments in Information and communications technology, smart grid, renewable technologies and adoption of appropriate business models. While some progress has been made in this regard it has been generally slow and not uniform across the utilities. This is attributable to a variety of reasons- financial, institutional and technical in nature. Lack of consumer awareness and motivation of utility management are also noticed in some cases. The way forward has to take due cognizance of all these aspects as well as the utility characteristics and consumer behavior.