Issue Whether the 11th Basic Plan's 16.3GW demand-management target delivers verifiable savings

Summary

The eleventh Basic Plan presents a demand management goal of 16.3GW rather than an achieved reduction. It favours instruments whose results can be measured and verified, such as an energy efficiency resource standard, efficiency programmes, demand response and vehicle-to-grid links, over abstract measures. These savings are subtracted at the target-demand stage, so the planned figure directly lowers the demand that infrastructure must serve. The open question is how much of the goal will actually materialise and how that can be demonstrated. The author argues that demand management should not stop at stating targets and needs stronger methods to estimate and verify real savings quantitatively.