PSC Staff Issues Status Report on Demand Response Goals

On October 22, 2026 Staff of the Maryland PSC of the Future Programming Work Group (FPWP) filed a status report on demand response goals.

Among other things, the FPWG status report: (1) proposed consensus utility DER enrollment and MW capability goals, broken down by utility, program, segment and year; (2) proposed further exploration of: (i) OPC’s concern “that the proposed level of growth remains limited, particularly in light of the planned retirement of direct load control programs and the absence of a clearly defined strategy to replace the associated demand reduction capability”; (ii) OPC’s concern that “the utilities’ proposed performance metrics do not include reporting of avoided [GHG] emissions attributable to DR dispatch”; (iii) American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) “proposed additional metrics that should be reported during the 2027 to 2029 program cycle to better inform how a future DR goal can be established for future cycles” and “grouping [of] devices with similar performance characteristics (e.g., climate, customer behavior, premise type, and device model) before probabilistic modeling that can be used for the purpose of future planning” as well as collecting data on “instances in which flexible devices—like a battery and smart thermostat—are paired together”; and (iv) BGE’s proposed “supporting metrics such as event performance, locational concentration, customer satisfaction, disadvantaged community participation, and cost effectiveness”; and (3) recommended MDPSC direct the FPWG to: (i) “coordinate with the Electric System Planning work group to confirm what strategies are utilized for prioritization of dispatch to address local constraints, regional needs, or RTO commitments”; (ii) “develop a methodology for estimating annual avoided GHG emissions associated with demand response dispatch and a framework for associated reporting, in coordination with the Evaluation Advisory Group” (EAG); (iii) “develop methodologies for calculating avoided emissions using utility-specific assumptions and Maryland-specific hourly marginal emissions rates, in coordination with the” EAG; (iv) “report excepted capability contributions on a year-round basis, where applicable, in coordination with the” EAG; (v) “examine how increased utilization of demand response resources could provide additional system, economic, and emissions-reduction benefits, in coordination with the” EAG; (vi)  “assess whether participation targets could be enhanced through higher-than-modeled recruitment of customers currently enrolled in outgoing direct load control programs to address the possible disproportional impacts on limited-income customers who may not have opportunities to participate in other DR programs”; (vii) “explore potential approaches to addressing participation challenges associated with legacy devices and existing customer equipment”; and (viii) “assess approaches for accounting for GHG impacts within the EmPOWER goal framework, in coordination with the” EAG.