Demand-Side Regulatory Drivers to Optimize the Efficiency of the Electricity Grid and Promote Environmentally Sustainable Business Practices

Overview & Synopsis

This Brief is the second in a two-part series that provides an overview of the electricity sector's demand-side and supply-side environmental regulations. Specifically, this Brief focuses on measures implemented on the demand side that can help restructure energy demand and manage increased load on the electricity grid in an energy-efficient way, while integrating renewable energy sources. The brief presents insights from new data on regulations and incentives for the environmentally sustainable use of electricity from the first Business Ready (B-READY) report covering 50 economies around the world. The Findings show that economies that require businesses to adopt energy efficiency practices also tend to have supply-side regulatory frameworks promoting the development of smart grids, indicating that the two go hand in hand. Finally, in those economies that have demand-side regulations to foster energy efficiency, firms tend to follow environmentally sustainable practices by monitoring their carbon dioxide emissions.