This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.
Reducing the amount of electricity consumed through being more efficient can help cut energy bills for consumers, reduce costs for businesses and bring down our emissions. The Electricity Demand Reduction (EDR) Project was initiated in 2011 to fulfil a commitment made within the Electricity Market Reform White Paper, to assess whether there is sufficient support and incentives available for households, businesses and organisations to use electricity more efficiently. Our analysis indicated there is significant potential for using electricity more efficiently in the UK and that, even after taking account of existing and planned policy, we are unlikely to realise all of this potential. In November 2012 we launched Options to encourage permanent reductions in electricity use (Electricity Demand Reduction), a consultation which sought views on what more might be done to incentivise, support and encourage the efficient use of electricity. The consultation closed on 31 January 2013 and our response was published on 21 May 2013. In June 2013 we introduced provisions into the Energy Bill (now the Energy Act (2013) so that a financial incentive to encourage lasting reductions in electricity demand could be delivered through the Capacity Market. We are running a pilot scheme to examine whether capacity savings resulting from the installation of more efficient electrical equipment could form part of the Capacity Market and to learn lessons for Government and stakeholders on the delivery of EDR schemes. Full guidance on the pilot can be found on the EDR Pilot page Other publications and research The following assessments and reports were published by DECC during the development of the EDR project
Carbon Trust and SPA Future Thinking conducted a qualitative research project to explore the potential role of incentive schemes in increasing the efficiency of energy use. Read the outcome of this research in Exploring the design of policies to increase efficiency of energy use within the industrial and commercial sectors.
an Impact Assessment which supports the amendments and the response to the Options to encourage permanent reductions in electricity use (Electricity Demand Reduction) consultation can be found on the consultation page
we published the final version of Capturing the full electricity efficiency potential of the UK in November 2012. This takes into account public comments on the draft version that was published in July 2012
DECC commissioned Ecofys to examine the measurement, verification and additionality of electricity demand reductions in the context of providing financial incentives for electricity efficiency