Limited customer awareness remains a significant barrier to participation in residential demand response programs, Parks Associates and Resideo Grid Services said in a report released last month. 

Parks Associates and Resideo found DR awareness is lowest in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, where a combined 59% of customers polled said they were unaware of or lacked access to demand response programs. Awareness is highest on the West Coast, where 44% of customers said they lacked access or awareness.

Lack of access and awareness are not the only barriers to DR program participation, according to the report. Twenty-nine percent of would-be participants said they have concerns with someone else controlling their thermostat; 34% worried about comfort or convenience; 17% said they don’t have the right thermostat and 16% said program payments aren’t high enough.

In spite of these barriers, Parks Associates found most smart thermostat users who do enroll in DR programs are satisfied with the experience. Sixty-nine percent of participants said DR events were either barely noticeable or “less unpleasant than anticipated,” the report said.

From the article, "Demand response programs improving, but customers remain wary: report" by Brian Martucci