13 June 2024

The UK has set ambitious decarbonisation goals, with targets to reduce carbon emissions compared to 1990 levels by 68% by 2030, 77% by 2035 and reaching net zero by 2050. An important part of meeting these targets will be the electrification of heat and transport to help decarbonise these sectors. Doing so will require major upgrades to our electricity networks to handle the increased generation and demand.

Demand Side Response (DSR) is an umbrella term meaning actions taken by consumers or businesses to shift the time of their electricity use, typically to minimise impact on the wider electricity grid. If DSR is taken up more widely, causing shifting of non-time sensitive electricity demand away from peak periods and towards periods of low demand and/or plentiful supply of renewables, we could ‘smooth out’ the usual peaks and troughs of electricity use and accordingly reduce the stress on the grid at times of peak electricity usage.

This is the last call for views on new standards for energy smart appliances which provide demand side response services, or that can remotely control electrical loads. This includes small non domestic systems.

A link to the consultation can be found here: Delivering a smart and secure electricity system: implementation