Demand response in smart grids: Participants, challenges, and a taxonomy

In recent decades, moves toward higher integration of Renewable Energy Resources have called for fundamental changes in both the planning and operation of the overall power grid. One such change is the incorporation of Demand Response (DR), the process by which consumers can adjust their demand in a flexible manner. This paper presents a survey of various aspects of DR including the different types of participants, as well as the underlying challenges and the overall potential of DR when it comes to large-scale implementations. Benefits of DR as reported in the literature for performance metrics such as frequency control and price control, as well as methods for ensuring privacy are discussed. A quantitative taxonomy of DR recently proposed in the literature based on the inherent magnitude, run-time, and integral constraints is discussed and its integration with economic dispatch is explored.