About

When a utility or local authority that supplies electricity influences the way it is used by customers, this activity is known as Demand Side Management (DSM).

DSM consists out of two Focus Areas :
- Commercial Sector
- Industrial Sector

The term 'demand-side management' (DSM) was first used in the United States in the early 1980s to describe the 'planning and implementation of utility activities designed to influence the time, pattern and/or amount of electricity demand in ways that would increase customer satisfaction, and co-incidentally produce desired changes in the utility's load-shape' (Gellings 1989). DSM - as an alternative to system expansion as well as a tangible means of providing customers with a valuable service - was later adopted in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia. Today, DSM-associated initiatives are practised worldwide, although not necessarily referred to as DSM programmes.



In South Africa, DSM is still a relatively new concept to most. While Eskom formally recognised DSM in 1992 when integrated electricity planning (IEP) was first introduced, the first DSM plan was only produced in 1994. In this plan, the role of DSM was established and a wide range of DSM opportunities and alternatives available to Eskom were identified (Ellman & Alberts 1999). Some municipalities and local service providers currently undertake activities seeking to 'produce desired changes in the utility's load shape'. Some of these activities can be classified as DSM initiatives, others not. The reason for this, generally, is that this latter group of activities tends to focus on achieving load impacts, and are not necessarily geared towards bringing about increased customer satisfaction. In the White Paper on Energy Policy, the South African government recognises the importance and potential of energy efficiency, and commits itself to promoting the efficient use of energy in all demand sectors. It also commits itself to investigating the establishment of 'appropriate institutional infrastructure and capacity for the implementation of energy efficiency strategies'. Currently, it seems as though the Department of Minerals and Energy is beginning to move in this direction.