Power Engineering - The International Energy Agency DSM Programme and PLMA address grid reliability issues

STOCKHOLM, Sweden & JUPITER, Fla., Aug. 19, 2003 -- The International Energy Agency (IEA) DSM Programme and Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA) today stressed the critical role of demand response and distributed resources in addressing grid reliability issues.

"The transmission grid power outage of August 14th has confirmed what industry experts have predicted for some time, that it was just a matter of time before our aging transmission system failed with catastrophic results," said Ross Malme, Chairman of the PLMA. "The cost of this failure in financial terms is measured in billions of dollars, but the real cost in terms of public outrage and loss of confidence in our electrical system may be far greater."

Recently the PLMA and IEA have been working diligently on the creation of a new international demand response project called Demand Response Resources (DRR), aimed at the ability to deliver demand response into any competitive electricity market, in the US or internationally, on very short notice. It is strongly believed by the IEA and the PLMA that demand response may be the only short-term solution to grid reliability problems related to overloading from peak demand.

The IEA and PLMA will be holding meetings in New York City on September 8th -10th focused on both US and international grid reliability problems and the demand side solutions to address them. US and International experts on technology, policy and regulatory affairs will be attending these meetings.

"The problems experienced by the Northeast part of the US on August 14th are not unique to the region or even the US," indicates Hans Nilsson, Chairman of the IEA Demand Side Management Programme. "We are facing much of the same problems in Europe, Asia and throughout the world. The reserve capacity is shrinking in the electricity systems of many industrialized countries, and we believe the international community, working on a collaborative basis, will deliver solutions to address our common issues. We invite all regulators, utilities, industry leaders, and technology companies wishing to participate in the process to join us in New York in September."

The IEA Demand-Side Management Programme started its collaboration in 1993 and since then 17 member countries and the European Commission have been working to promote energy efficiency and demand side management for global sustainable development and for business opportunities.

Australia
Finland
Netherlands
Austria
France
Norway
Belgium
Greece
Spain
Canada
Italy
Sweden
Denmark
Japan
United Kingdom
European Commission
Korea
United States

For additional information contact the Chairman Hans Nilsson tel+46 8 650 6733 e-mail: nosslinh@telia.com or DSM Executive Secretary, Anne Bengtson, Box 621, 182 16 Danderyd, Sweden, Telephone: +46 8 510 50830, Fax: +46 8 510 50831, E-mail: anne.bengtson@telia.com. Also, visit our web site at: http://dsm.iea.org.

The Peak Load Management Alliance includes companies in electric generation, retail energy services, load aggregation, power exchange, demand response systems, metering equipment, grid operations, market management and information technologies. Further conference details, including registration information, can be found on the PLMA's website, http://www.peaklma.com.

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