Many electrical utilities are beginning to experiment with rate structures for their commercial and industrial (C&I) customers that provide the customer with reduced rates in exchange for an agreement to curtail usage at the utility's request. Popular for many years in the natural gas industry (commonly known as "interruptible rates"), these programs allow the utility to avoid bringing less efficient (and more expensive) power plants on line to meet the needs of customers during peak demand periods.

One of the keys to successful implementation of DR programs is having timely information available to the utility and the customer about energy usage. Both the utility and the customer need to be aware of the impact of load curtailment on the customer's load and on the utility grid as a whole. Data acquisition systems provide the most cost-effective means of acquiring useful information in a timely manner.