Demand response and grid resilience: Key takeaways from summer 2025

Resideo Grid Services' Michael Siemann writes on how, to meet the impacts of extreme weather on the power grid, utilities are increasingly turning to demand response as a tool for grid stability.

Demand Response (DR) season is winding down after a summer that tested grid resilience in uneven ways. 

While some regions faced intense, localised heat waves that pushed utilities to call more events than usual, much of the country experienced milder conditions, leading to fewer large-scale emergencies. 

At the same time, rapid electrification and rising energy consumption are driving year-round demand growth. As utilities and virtual power plant (VPP) operators respond to these converging pressures, demand response is evolving into a more dynamic, data-driven and essential tool for maintaining grid stability. 

Recently, Resideo Grid Services has adopted new strategies to manage energy with greater precision and efficiency, revealing key trends shaping the future of demand response. This season, poised with even more intelligence and tools, we saw these trends accelerate, driving both challenges and opportunities for grid operators, utilities and consumers. 

Three demand response trends  

1. More precise and localised grid management  
   
   One standout trend is the shift toward more localised and targeted demand response events. A significant 22% of demand response events run by Resideo Grid Services in 2024 utilised less than half of the available devices, signalling a move away from broad, system-wide curtailments. Instead, utilities are focusing on more precise energy adjustments, leveraging a range of distributed energy resources (DERs), including smart thermostats, batteries, EV chargers and water heaters. This hyper-local approach enables utilities to use the same DER assets originally deployed for system-wide support to now also manage local distribution constraints. 
   
   Throughout the summer of 2025, utilities leaned further into this localised approach. Our intelligent models analyse historical device performance, customer behaviour, and regional grid needs to inform more precise dispatch planning. These tools allow utilities to anticipate where flexibility will be needed most, making it easier to act before extreme conditions emerge and minimizing disruption for customers. 
   
   For example, during the week of June 22, 2025, Resideo Grid Services ran 80 separate DR events, controlled 291,000 connected devices, delivered 416MW of peak capacity and shifted 2.23GWh of energy. This snapshot underscores the scale with which demand response is now being executed, demonstrating its growing value as a localised, high-impact tool for grid management.  
   
   A major benefit of this increasingly precise approach is a reduced impact on individual customers. Parks Associates reports that 35% of consumers say they barely noticed a difference when an event was called, and another 34% found it less disruptive than expected. Resideo Grid Services data also shows a 173% increase in the total number of demand response events called from 2021 to 2024, but despite this surge, the more targeted approach has kept customers from feeling overwhelmed by demand response requests. This can result in fewer opt-outs and higher programme retention. 
   
   
2. A new era of seasonal demand peaks 
   
   While summer has historically been the peak season for demand response, there is a growing trend of winter demand driven by the electrification of heating. This shift challenges the traditional demand response playbook, requiring utilities to rethink resource allocation to prepare for dual seasonal peaks – one in summer and another in winter. 
   
   As the electrification of homes and vehicles accelerates, summer peaks are driven not just by cooling loads but also by increased EV charging demand. Utilities must proactively adjust their demand response strategies to accommodate this changing landscape.
   
   
3. Continued reliance on demand response events 
   
   Last year, Resideo Grid Services facilitated 2,448 demand response events—more than the total from the previous 12 years combined. This dramatic rise reflects more than just scale; it signals the growing reliance on demand-side flexibility as a front-line grid resource. This year’s numbers are projected to land in the 800-1,000-event range. The decline from record-breaking event counts seen in recent years can largely be attributed to milder weather across much of the US, with the Northeast standing out as one of the few regions hit harder than normal.  
   
   Despite fewer events overall, this is a healthy deployment for both the grid and participants. A year with fewer extreme weather events shows the system’s increased stability and readiness of participants when called upon. The ability to achieve reliability without constant strain highlights the maturity of today’s demand response programmes and reinforces that success isn’t defined by frequency, but by efficiency and preparedness.  
   
   Demand response continues to evolve into a more sophisticated, indispensable tool for ensuring grid resilience. With better forecasting, automation and the ability to shift loads more precisely, utilities will be better equipped to manage the increasing complexity of a changing energy ecosystem. In this new era, DR is no longer an experiment; it’s a trusted, scalable solution for delivering both resilience and reliability.