Facilitating domestic demand response in Britain’s electricity system

Load flexibility can supplant some of the supply-side flexibility lost as intermittent renewables are installed and reduce the network investment needed to meet growing electricity demand. This diffusion of innovation study uses interviews to examine the factors that might lead to adopting or rejecting domestic demand response. The results show that policymakers can make the most of demand flexibility by aligning the technical and bidding requirements of different flexibility markets, regulating flexibility markets and aggregators to protect households participating in such markets, and making the energy price reflective of carbon content, location, and time of use.