Washington, DC— The Alliance to Save energy released Demand is the New Supply— Affordable Grid Stability through Demand-Side Solutions today, as the Alliance kicked-off day-2 of the Conference of Parties in Dubai. The white paper, which was developed by the DNV, a leading independent assurance and risk management provider, and supported by Carrier, identifies the critical importance of active energy efficiency (active efficiency) solutions in the residential built environment, if the U.S. is to achieve a reliable, affordable, and equitable energy transition. The paper was introduced as part of a panel discussion (Intelligent Home Energy Management for Net Zero) at COP 28, led by Carrier and moderated by Alliance President, Paula Glover. The panel detailed the value of active efficiency technologies in helping to lead the transition when combined with other energy efficiency investments. In the paper, DNV explores demand flexibility, grid-interactive buildings (GEBs), and virtual power plant (VPP) technologies, and further identifies challenges and recommended solutions for accelerated scale-up of the much-needed energy efficiency technologies.

 “With energy demand for space cooling expected to increase threefold by 2050, we need grid-connected and demand response-capable equipment, combined with energy policy that incentivizes consumers and encourages a variety of demand-side solutions, including VPPs, to achieve scale,” said Hakan Yilmaz, who participated on the panel and is Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer for Carrier. “At Carrier, we are committed to playing a leading role in this transformation through research and development, public and private sector collaboration, and the deployment of new energy management solutions. Together, we can harness the power of innovation to accelerate energy efficiency as a reliable and measurable factor to enable grid resiliency and create a more sustainable future.”

The white paper follows the recent U.S. Department of Energy Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory (LBNL)-Brattle Group study, which found that immediate and accelerated investments in energy efficiency technologies would save billions annually in avoided supply-side costs, and that but for identified demand-side investments, the transition could be prohibitive. “That is why energy efficiency is indispensable to the transition,” said Alliance President, Paula Glover. “As we avoid larger supply-side investments and deploy demand-side solutions, we can also help to avoid infinite increases in consumer bill costs connected to growing supply needs driven by increasing EV demand and building electrification. Moreover, consumers will be consuming less energy due to energy efficiency investments, further helping to reduce their energy costs,” said Glover. “However, the value of energy efficiency doesn’t stop with grid reliability and energy affordability. Energy efficiency has long been the workhorse of U.S. emission reductions, and according to the IEA, could achieve 40% of the emission reductions required by the Paris Agreement— by itself.” “And I would add that energy efficiency is also a key ingredient for a just energy transition.” 

About the Alliance to Save Energy

Founded in 1977, the Alliance to Save Energy is a leading energy efficiency coalition in the nation – a nonprofit, bipartisan alliance of business, government, environmental and consumer leaders advocating for enhanced energy efficiency investments across all sectors of the economy.