Evaluation of DSM-Programmes

Evald Brønd, NESA A/S, Denmark

Keywords

Abstract

Many Danish electric utilities launched about 6 years ago some DSM-acticities in order to promote the most efficient and economic use of electricity. The programmes were offered to the various groups of customers partly as support to the government policy concerning energy conservation and partly to enhance customer related services performed by the utilities. At first the activities were designed without thorough market analyses, cost/benefit calculations etc. The possible effect on the electricity consumption could only be assumed based on approximate appraisments. This practice was, of course, unsatisfactory in the long run. As part of a comprehensive project--supported by the EEC's SAVE-programme-- concerning integrated resource planning (IRP), some of the Danish DSM-activities have been analysed in detail. The result of the analyses shows a great deviation in the cost/benefit ratio for the activities accomplished. In order to compare different options of DSM-programmes a practical tool is necessary for a judgmental evaluation of DSM-programmes. As part of the IRP-project a screening procedure useful for such an evaluation has therefore been developed, based on experiences in the U.S. The paper describes this procedure, the assessment parameters used and the result obtained from screening of the DSM-activities mentioned.