4.1.1. Section 1.A: Intended Use of the Protocols

Section 1.A describes the purpose of the protocols and the ways in which they may appropriately be used. The protocols are intended to evaluate all types of demand response programs, regardless of the characteristics (type of trigger or notification time, for example) of the program. The protocols are not intended to evaluate programs whose primary purpose is research or education, such as pilot programs or the statewide DR marketing campaign. In the future the Commission may approve protocols or provide additional guidance for Permanent Load Shifting and Integrated Demand Side Management activities, as necessary and appropriate. The protocols acknowledge that some demand response programs may require some flexibility due to their specific characteristics, however, any modifications in the protocols, including those attempting to address particular subsets of demand response activities such as permanent load shifting, must be fully explained and receive Commission approval. We will not use these protocols for evaluation of dynamic rates, but they may be useful to provide information on the cost effectiveness of initial implementation of or additional budget requests for a dynamic rate program when the costs and load impacts of a proposed rate can be estimated.

Section 1.A also provides background on some of the possible approaches considered for estimation of the cost-effectiveness of demand response, and why certain approaches were rejected in favor of a marginal cost approach.