Residential demand response (RDR) is growing worldwide as new technology and use cases allow utilities to look for help integrating renewables and reducing expensive peak load.

Utility Dive highlighted the following expected residential demand response results from a recent Navigant Research report:

• Global RDR is expected to more than triple by 2028.
• Global RDR capacity will stand at 13.8 GW at the end of this year and rise to 47.4 GW by the end of 2028 with North American utilities leading the GW growth, followed by Europe.
• RDR will face growth challenges including regional variations in energy policy and the need to grow the participant base beyond early adopters.

This expected RDR growth is being driven by technological innovations, the use of demand response for load shifting, and integrated demand-side management, which, because of distributed energy resources, is expected to help drive future efficiency spending.

"Advanced thermostats continue to drive growth for residential demand response programs, but over the next decade, additional technologies like residential storage and electric vehicle supply equipment will also play a role in driving deeper savings," said Jessie Mehrhoff, research analyst at Navigant Research.

In energy markets with more intermittent renewables, Mehrhoff said there will be a growing need for demand response as a load-shifting tool to move peaks toward periods with more clean energy.