Industrial Demand Side Management

Industrial plants can play a key role in improving energy affordability for everyone.

Electricity use is rising significantly in the United States, driven by data centers and the electrification of transportation, buildings, and industrial plants. Energy efficiency and load flexibility are the fastest, most cost-effective tools available to meet this surging electricity demand—and industrial facilities are where much of that potential resides.

Industrial customers have long participated in utility programs to reduce their energy use at the grid’s busiest times, but the opportunity now extends well beyond occasional curtailment events. Today, facilities that can optimize their energy consumption patterns by adjusting production schedules, leveraging thermal and energy storage, and deploying smart controls can become a critical grid resource, helping reduce costs for all ratepayers by averting the need for costly new grid infrastructure.

One path to greater efficiency and more flexibility is through Smart Manufacturing. As plants increase their use of AI to manage production, they can optimize profitability in response to grid loads, customer demand, raw materials, and shift/maintenance schedules.

ACEEE provides research on how industrial demand-side management can be scaled by utilities, state regulators, and industrial customers to help tackle challenges like rising electricity costs and the decarbonization of the industrial sector. We also connect manufacturers and their vendors directly to the tools, programs, and service providers that will accelerate efficiency and decarbonization projects.