Coordinating Grid Needs: Demand-Side Innovation Across Institutions, Customers, and Technologies

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

As the U.S. energy system shifts toward decarbonization, coordinating grid needs increasingly depends on demand-side innovation. This panel brings together four studies that explore how demand-side innovation is being designed, governed, and adopted across institutional, customer, and technological domains.

The first paper investigates stakeholder co-design within California’s Demand Flexibility Rulemaking (R.22-07-005), tracing how coalitions of utilities, businesses, and advocacy groups have influenced the development of dynamic pricing policies. Drawing on network analysis, document coding, and stakeholder interviews, the study underscores the value of stakeholder co-design in aligning diverse interests, navigating tensions, and constructing durable governance arrangements for a more flexible and equitable energy system.

The second paper examines distributed energy resource (DER) co-adoption —specifically solar PV, battery storage, and EVs— across residential and commercial customers. Drawing on multi-utility data, the study assesses how co-adoption shifts load profiles and explores how these insights can support more inclusive and precise utility planning.

The third study draws on a discrete choice experiment at Los Angeles Air Force Base to understand workplace EV charging preferences. The study explores customer preferences around pricing, access, and reliability, offering implications for the design of workplace charging in contexts where home charging is constrained.

The fourth paper investigates how three Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) shape battery storage deployment and integration. Through comparative case studies, the research reveals how institutional design and market rules influence whether storage technologies are leveraged to meet grid needs.

Together, these papers demonstrate how demand-side innovation is coordinated across institutions, customers, and technologies.

Policy Area

• Natural Resource, Energy, and Environmental Policy

Discussant

• Yu Wang, Iowa State University

Organizer

• Calvin Spanbauer, Princeton University

Individual Presentations

• Coalition Dynamics and Stakeholder Co-Design in California’s Demand Flexibility Regulatory Proceedings - Presenting Author: Calvin Spanbauer, Princeton University; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Margaret Taylor, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

• Understanding the Impact of Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Adoption on Customer Electricity Usage Behavior - Presenting Author: Margaret Taylor, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

• Energy Storage Transforming the Grid (or Not): RTO’s Shaping Deployment, Cost, and Value of Batteries - Presenting Author: Stephanie Lenhart, Boise State University; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Elizabeth J. Wilson, Dartmouth College

• Grid hardening and the effectiveness of climate adaptation in the U.S. electricity sector - Presenting Author: Madeline Yozwiak, Carnegie Mellon University