Conceptual framework for introducing incentive-based demand response programs for retail electricity markets

Abstract Enduring expansions and advancement in the knowledge driven energy-economy era promise a power system that is cost-effectively competent, environmentally responsive, flawless and operationally acquiescent. This imminent power system will depend on latest communication technologies, computational easiness, and monitoring and control strategies attributable to the consumers or end users. Amid the numerous advances related to this development, a strategic and significant component is demand side management (DSM). Demand response can play an important and pertinent role in the milieu of DSM, and incentive-based demand response program (IBDRP) is getting customer focus in many parts of the world. This study tries to bring out major aspects to be considered while introducing IBDRP in retail electricity markets. Document analysis, a well-known qualitative research methodology, is used for analyzing various IBDRP schemes practiced globally, with the help of the ATLAS.ti software and utilizing the snowball sampling technique. For better understanding, the results of the axial coding are arranged in three stages: pre-implementation stage, implementation stage, and post-implementation stage. Based on the importance and their frequency of appearance, ten most prominent codes were identified, and the strength of their interrelationships is presented on a multilevel scale with three different ranks. One of the major and important outcomes of this research is that, with the help of the proposed conceptual framework, a proper implementation framework can be built, which can be used for developing most appropriate IBDRP for any retail electricity market.