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Demand side management
Championing DSM for Albertans
Demand side management (DSM) is an untapped resource for Alberta’s utility system that can unlock meaningful affordability and reliability benefits while creating new opportunities for local companies to deliver DSM projects.
In jurisdictions with similar market structures, DSM has proven to reduce costs, increase grid resilience, and make it easier to decarbonize. Alberta has immense potential to achieve similar success, and the Alberta Energy Efficiency Alliance (AEEA) is committed to making it happen.
The AEEA is actively working to increase the adoption of DSM in Alberta by focusing on:
- Collaboration: Partnering with local businesses, non-profit organizations, and other stakeholders to identify Alberta-based DSM solutions that benefit households and businesses across the province.
- Awareness: Raising public understanding of DSM’s potential through education and sharing success stories.
- Advocacy: Engaging with policymakers, utilities, and industry leaders to demonstrate the value of DSM programs and secure support for their implementation.
Why demand side management?
Lower costs, higher reliability.
DSM programs offer a wide range of benefits from a consumer, utility, and policymaker perspective. These benefits include energy savings, peak demand reductions, greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, and increases in system flexibility and non-energy benefits such as increased comfort and reliability, investment into building stock renewal, and reduced operation and maintenance costs.
A key piece in Alberta’s emissions reduction puzzle.
DSM programs are also complementary to initiatives including those focused on reducing emissions such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS); renewable electricity hydrogen; renewable natural gas; and other emissions reduction technology development. Although several of these emissions reduction approaches tend to increase costs for consumers, DSM reduces costs and emissions at the same time. This helps to diversify and balance various emissions reduction approaches, and increases the likelihood of successful deployment of each.
Download our in depth analysis of Demand Side Management Opportunities for Alberta.
What is demand side management?
- Demand response
- Energy efficiency
- Energy management practices
- Distributed generation
- Electricity storage
- Distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS)
- Voltage optimization
- Smart grid technology
DSM increases economic competitiveness
- ↑ competition and ↓ utility bills
- ↑ demand flexibility and ↓ price fluctuations
- ↓ emissions and ↑ support of CCUS, hydrogen and other emission reduction efforts
- ↑ private investment
- ↑ jobs across the province
See who’s signed on their support for DSM in Alberta.
Resources
Share your thoughts on DSM
The AEEA is interested in your thoughts on how to increase the use of Demand Side Management (DSM) technologies in Alberta.
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Questions?
We are committed to supporting the energy efficiency industry, consumers and partners to accelerate the adoption of energy efficiency in Alberta. All questions and feedback are welcome.