Policy initiatives for electric utility load management in AID-assisted countries

Load management, a strategy to reduce customer demand for electricity during peak generating periods, offers developing countries an alternative to constructing new generating capacity. While not yet widely adopted in the Third World, load management offers much promise for alleviating power shortages, improving system reliability, promoting efficient resource utilization, and reducing investment requirements in the power sector. Load management also provides environmental benefits by reducing the consumption of fossil fuels, the major contributor to global warming. This report examines the rationale for load management in the electricity sector and summarizes positive experience with these techniques in the U.S. electricity industry. Stress is laid on three types of load management: (1) peak clipping, which is used during peak periods to reduce capacity requirements, operating costs, and dependence on critical fuels; (2) valley filling, which is used to build off-peak loads; and (3) load shifting, which is used to shift the load from the peak to the off-peak periods in the interest of system efficiency. The report also recommends a strategy for achieving energy efficiency via load management and recommends a method for identifying priority countries for load management assistance.