The rapid expansion of AI data centers has pulled conversations about electricity generation and consumption into the mainstream spotlight. In communities across the United States, consumers are now asking questions about when electricity is used, how much is used and the resulting impact on both grid reliability and affordability.

While data centers have certainly been a lightning rod for public inquiry and have inadvertently raised awareness of important energy topics, electricity providers have long been exploring and implementing demand response solutions to maintain grid reliability, avoid costly upgrades and investments, and integrate distributed energy resources (DERs), such as electric vehicles (EVs).

Given today’s landscape of data center-driven load growth, affordability challenges and rising DER interest among residential customers, especially Gen Z, there has arguably never been a more important time to understand consumers’ openness to shifting their home electricity usage, the devices they are willing to adjust, the benefits they view as the most important and more.

To provide guidance to the energy industry on residential demand response program design and communications, the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) recently conducted the “Consumer Understanding of Demand Response” survey, which was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll in early March among 2,091 adults aged 18 and older.

In this month’s blog, we examine three key takeaways from SECC’s latest Snapshot Survey that provide insight into Americans’ openness to demand response programs:

1. There is openness to behavioral and direct load control programs.

The new survey presented respondents with a scenario wherein electricity providers ask customers to save energy at home for up to four hours when electricity demand is at its highest. These “energy-saving events” would help protect the grid and would only be called 5-15 times per year. We found that 66% of consumers are open to participating in a behavioral demand response program, with 7% stating they currently participate and 21% saying they are highly interested. While SECC’s surveys have always found somewhat lower interest in direct load control (DLC) programs, 53% of consumers are still open to participation or are current participants (6%).

2. Consumers are willing to shift a range of household appliances.

Next, we asked these interested respondents which household appliances and devices they would be open to adjusting during these energy-saving events and found that there is broad willingness to adjust household appliances and devices. Eighty percent are willing to shift dishwasher usage, and 77% are willing to adjust home cooling. Consumers are least likely to be willing to adjust lighting (74%) and smart plugs/outlets (71%). However, regardless of behavioral or DLC program, willingness to shift was fairly consistent across appliances and devices – all devices saw between 73% and 82% willingness for both program types.

3. Cost, comfort and control are driving consumer decision-making.

Finally, respondents who were interested in participating were asked what information would be most important to have before deciding to enroll in or rejoin a demand response program (either behavioral or DLC). Unsurprisingly, knowing the exact financial benefits (e.g., what rebates, bill savings or other incentives are included) rose to the top (62%). However, consumers were also eager to have confirmation that they could manually override adjustments at any time (57%) and to know exactly when events would occur and how long they would last (52%). These findings echo the importance of cost, comfort and control that we have long seen in SECC’s surveys.

Recent events have made conversations about the importance of when electricity is used increasingly trickle into the mainstream – and perhaps these conversations will only become more common in the years to come. As electricity providers increasingly offer demand response programs in response to data centers, EVs, renewables integration and other factors, SECC’s new research shows that many consumers are willing to participate in these programs with the right mix of benefits and communications.

To dive deeper into the findings – including key implications for program design and communications – view the “Consumer Understanding of Demand Response” infographic here.