PC_2023_E_10 - Public consultation on prioritising the removal of barriers to electricity demand response

The recent energy crisis showed how shifting and reducing electricity demand plays a crucial role when electricity supply is scarce or at risk. Furthermore, Europe’s ambition to be a carbon neutral continent by 2050 also means that more flexibility in the power system is needed. Electricity flexibility is the ability of energy resources and consumers to change or adjust their consumption or production in response to price signals, or to provide services to system operators. Increased flexibility in the EU power system presents key opportunities for consumers to be part of the clean energy transition. One important solution to achieve electricity flexibility is enhanced demand response.

What is electricity demand response?

Electricity demand response occurs when consumers (or aggregators on their behalf) adjust their consumption or production in response to price signals. In all Member States, still many barriers to demand response persist. The consequences of barriers are increased inefficiencies, resulting in higher, uncertain, and volatile electricity costs for consumers and generators, small actors, and new entrants.

This year’s ACER report on demand response identifies key barriers to the participation of distributed energy resources (i.e., demand response, energy storage and distributed generation) in the wholesale electricity markets and system operation services in the EU-27 Member States and Norway. It presents key findings and specific recommendations per country.

The objective of this consultation is to gather stakeholders' inputs on the prioritisation of strategies for overcoming barriers to demand response. Based on the findings of the report and the inputs gathered from stakeholders, ACER will focus its 2024 market monitoring work on the most relevant barriers.

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ACER will host a webinar to present its key findings on monitoring barriers to electricity demand response on 19 January 2024.