Reducing emissions and addressing climate change will require many different approaches working together. One approach that's been used for decades in other jurisdictions but is not currently used in Alberta is to invest into Demand Side Management (DSM) through the utility system. DSM initiatives support consumers in all sectors and all financial abilities to reduce their energy bills and shift their energy use during times of high prices. This improves affordability for consumers while reducing emissions at the same time by supporting significant investments in energy efficiency, enabling demand response and reducing the cost of adding distributed energy resources to the system. 

DSM will become even more important as Alberta transitions to new technologies such as renewable energy and other low emission energy sources, and as the uptake of electric vehicles and heat pumps progresses. This is because DSM also helps to increase the flexibility of the utility system to better match increasingly dynamic supply and demand technologies while reducing costs at the same time. 

This project will engage key stakeholders in the DSM conversation to gather input on how Alberta should move forward to further explore DSM opportunities in the province and ultimately implement it within the utility system in a way that is complimentary to other emission reduction efforts in the province.