“Demand response currently accounts for over 20 gigawatts”

Comverge Inc.’s chairman, president and CEO Robert Chiste has highlighted that demand response and energy efficiency provide the “fastest, cleanest and most economic” megawatts.
Chiste also pointed out that regulators and legislators at the Federal and State level are encouraging and approving funding for increased investment in energy efficiency and demand management.

According to Chiste, who made these observations during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call, the demand response and energy efficiency opportunity has the potential of far greater impact on energy independence than other alternatives such as solar and wind.

“In fact, wind and solar projects have slowed considerably because the financial and transmission constraints in the current install base of solar power in the United States is about 2 gigawatts,” said Chiste. “By comparison, demand response currently accounts for over 20 gigawatts or ten times the size of the entire solar installed base in the United States.”

In the recent past, the US industry witnessed the signing into law of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and provisions to modernise the U.S. electricity grid.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains specific provisions for the establishment of a $4.2 billion grant programme that will support the rollout of smart grid and smart metering projects across the country. Smart metering solutions provide utilities with a two-way flow of data required to manage energy use, efficiency, demand response and network protection. Consumers benefit from improved usage information and with it, the ability to reduce overall energy costs and carbon footprints.