IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - May/June 2020 - 78

In addition to these selective and
comprehensive end-use research projects, it was common for the industry
to conduct one-off research on selected appliances, particularly in the
residential market, including room and
central air conditioning, washers and
dryers, microwaves and
ranges, refrigerators and
freezers, -d ishwashers,
and water heaters.
Around 1990, the Electric Power Research Institute initiated a project
to build a clearinghouse
for utility end-use data
called the Center for
Electric End-Use Data
(CEED). Utilities with
data could contribute to
CEED and receive load
shapes, and those without
any data could purchase
the end-use load shapes
they needed. The two
main purposes of the enduse research were to 1) lay the foundation for bottom-up forecasting and 2)
develop and inform demand-side management programs.
In the late 1970s, the industry started conducting residential and commercial direct load control experiments.
These projects included air-conditioning and water-heating direct load
control, residential storage heating,
and a wide range of time-of-use rates.
These studies often included measuring the affected end uses to better
isolate and understand the end-use
loads. Here again, load researchers
were the optimum choice to conduct
interval load research focused on planning for and quantifying the impacts
associated with these types of programs
and initiatives.
Although most of this discussion in
this article has been focused on electric
load research, it is important to note
that load research studies, including
end-use studies, have been conducted
on other commodities including natural gas, steam, and water. Consolidated
Edison of New York routinely conducts
load research studies on its natural

gas and steam customers. East Ohio
Gas Company, Michigan Consolidated Gas Company, Consumers Power
Company, and Puget Sound Energy
Company have all conducted gas load
research. In the mid-1990s, Minnegasco conducted an end-use gas load
research project focused
on the impact of highefficiency residential
furnaces on its gas distribution network.

It is important
to note that
load research
studies,
including enduse studies,
have been
conducted
on other
commodities.

78	

ieee power & energy magazine	

What's Next?

It is a time of transition
for load research. Some
utilities are still living in
the past, with pulse-initiating meters and load
recorders procured and
deployed for data capture, while other utilities
are rapidly advancing
toward the future with
AMI, shifting the landscape to the forefront of
interval load analytics. The industry is
quickly moving from a focus on data
capture to a world where interval load
data are available on large portions of
the population, moving the focus toward
data access, handling, and analytics.
The AEIC Load Research Committee
acknowledged this transition by renaming itself and including "Analytics"
in the committee name, i.e., the AEIC
Load Research and Analytics Committee. The current objectives of the committee include
✔✔ promoting improvements in the
collection, analysis, and application of load research data and associated information
✔ ✔ educating the industry about
load research
✔✔ encouraging the use of load research in utility management decision making.
Even though load research's past
was built upon the fortitude and foresight of a handful of individuals, the
present is the product of many more
industry practitioners. Not only are
past and current members of the AEIC
and WLRA helping to guide and shape

our industry by actively promoting
the growth and advancement of load
research, we are starting to see load
research workshops and conferences
attract people interested in load forecasting, distributed energy resources,
and demand-side management evaluation and planning. Presentations are
highlighting more advanced analytical
techniques like machine learning and
artificial intelligence, and the focus of
many of the studies include interesting
customer-side resources such as electric vehicles, photovoltaics, and battery
storage. For a look into the future of
load research, please continue reading
the feature article, "Utility Load Research: The Future of Load Research
Is Now," in this month's IEEE Power
& Energy Magazine.

For Further Reading
L. J. Vogt, "The history of the AEIC Load
Research Committee: 1944-1985," AEIC
Load Research Committee, Birmingham, AL, June 1985. Accessed on: Mar.
10, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://aeic
.org/wp-content /uploads/2017/05/
H istor y- of-A EIC-L oad-Resea rch
- Com m it tee-194 4 -1945-P repa red
-June-1985-1.pdf
L. Brandenburg et al., "Load Research
Manual: Load Research Procedures," U.S.
Department of Energy, Argonne National
Laboratory, Argonne, IL, ANL/SPG-13,
vol. 1, Nov. 1980. Accessed on: Mar. 10,
2020. [Online]. Available: https://www
.osti.gov/servlets/purl/6705685
L. Brandenburg et al., "Load Resea rch Ma nua l: Fu nd a ment a ls of
Implementing Load Research Procedures," U.S. Department of Energy, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne,
IL, ANL/SPG-13, vol. 2, Nov. 1980.
Accessed on: Mar. 10, 2020. [Online].
Available: https://www.osti.gov/servlets/
purl/6705684
L. Brandenburg et al., "Load Research Manual: Load Research for Advanced Technologies," U.S. Department
of Energy, Argonne National Laboratory,
Argonne, IL, ANL/SPG-13, vol. 3, Nov.
1980. Accessed on: Mar. 10, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.osti.gov/
servlets/purl/6705679
may/june 2020

https://aeic.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/History-of-AEIC-Load-Research-Committee-1944-1945-Prepared-June-1985-1.pdf https://aeic.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/History-of-AEIC-Load-Research-Committee-1944-1945-Prepared-June-1985-1.pdf https://aeic.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/History-of-AEIC-Load-Research-Committee-1944-1945-Prepared-June-1985-1.pdf https://aeic.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/History-of-AEIC-Load-Research-Committee-1944-1945-Prepared-June-1985-1.pdf https://aeic.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/History-of-AEIC-Load-Research-Committee-1944-1945-Prepared-June-1985-1.pdf https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6705685 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6705685 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6705684 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6705684 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6705679 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6705679

IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - May/June 2020

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