# Demand response Source: https://ordergroup.co/glossary/demand-response/ Last updated: 2026-10-10 > Demand response (DSR) for teams buying energy software: how calls, baselines and settlement work, and what the platform has to handle. [Energy](https://ordergroup.co/glossary/energy/) 4 min read # Demand response Also known as: DSR, demand-side response Definition Demand response is a change in electricity consumption by end users, away from their normal pattern, in reaction to prices or to a paid call from a grid operator or aggregator. It can be offered by one site or by many sites pooled through aggregation. Cite this entry Text "Demand response". Order Group, Software glossary, 10 October 2026. https://ordergroup.co/glossary/demand-response/ HTML `Demand response - Order Group` Reviewed by [Paweł Zieliński](https://ordergroup.co/authors/pawel-zielinski/), Co-founder & Business Owner Last reviewed 10 October 2026 ## How demand response works EU law defines demand response in Directive 2019/944 (Article 2, point 20) as a change of electricity load by final customers from their normal or current consumption pattern. The trigger can be a market signal, such as a time-variable price or an incentive payment, or the acceptance of the customer's bid to sell demand reduction or increase on an organized market. The customer can do it alone or through aggregation, which the same article defines as combining multiple customer loads or generated electricity for sale on any electricity market. In practice there are two families. In implicit demand response the customer sees a price, for example a dynamic tariff, and shifts load on their own. Nobody calls them and nobody measures them against a baseline. In explicit demand response the customer, usually through an aggregator, sells flexibility as a product. The buyer (a grid operator, a capacity mechanism or a balancing market) sends a call, the portfolio reduces or increases load for a set window, and payment depends on what was measured. An explicit event runs in five steps: enrollment and testing of each site, a baseline that estimates what the site would have consumed without the call, the call itself with a notice period, delivery, and settlement against the baseline. Implicit and explicit demand response compared AspectImplicit (price-based)Explicit (incentive-based) TriggerPrice signal, e.g. dynamic tariffCall from grid operator, market or aggregatorWho decidesThe customer or their automationThe buyer of flexibility, within the contractPaymentLower energy billAvailability and/or delivery paymentBaseline neededNoYes, delivery is measured against itPenalty for not deliveringNoneLost payment and contractual penalty ## Rules in Poland In Poland most explicit demand response is sold through the capacity market, as capacity market demand reduction units. PSE announces availability periods (formerly called "okresy zagrożenia", now "okresy przywołania") no later than 8 hours in advance. A supplier with a demand reduction unit can ask PSE for a test period. During a test the unit must deliver at least its capacity obligation for that hour. A failed test costs the supplier the capacity payment for the affected period and triggers a penalty. On the balancing market an aggregator can pool generation, storage and consumption sites into an aggregator scheduling unit (jednostka grafikowa agregatu, JGA) of 0.2 MW to 50 MW; the entry rules since the June 2024 reform are described under [aFRR](https://ordergroup.co/glossary/afrr/). So far nobody has used this route: URE's review of the first year of the reform, covering the period to June 30, 2025, counted no aggregator units registered on the balancing market. ## What demand response means for your software Most of a demand response platform is data handling; dispatch is the smaller part. These requirements usually decide its architecture: - The asset registry works at metering point level. Each point (in Poland, the PPE number, punkt poboru energii) needs its declared or contracted power, the reduction it can offer, its owner and the aggregation unit it belongs to. One customer may have points in several units, and one call may cover points of several customers. - The baseline method comes from the program rules, so the system has to implement it exactly, version it and recompute it when a call is added at short notice or when meter data arrives late. Gaps in meter data need an explicit rule; silent interpolation will be challenged at settlement. - A call has a start, an end and a requested power. The platform splits that power across points (evenly, by declared capacity, or with a safety buffer above the requested volume) and validates that the sum matches the call. - SMS, e-mail or API notifications must reach participants, and the system should notice when they did not. - Measurement runs on interval data at settlement resolution (15 minutes in most EU markets). Reports per hour or per interval should be generated as soon as each interval closes, with totals per call, per unit and per customer. - Grid operator, aggregator, end customer and an energy consultant managing points on the customer's behalf each see only their own points and their share of a call. Writing the specification? Add Demand response to your requirements checklist Collect the terms your project touches and get their system requirements in one e-mail, ready for an RFP. What the system records at each step of a call StepData the system needsTypical failure EnrollmentMetering point ID, declared power, unit membershipPoint assigned to two unitsBaselineHistorical interval data, method versionMissing days, late correctionsCallWindow, requested power, allocation per pointSum of points does not match the callNotificationRecipient, channel, delivery statusMessage sent but never deliveredSettlementMeasured vs baseline per intervalDisputed baseline, time zone or DST errors ## From our projects We built the demand-side response module of the Zeronest energy management platform. It groups individual metering points into aggregation units and lets an aggregator create a call across them. In 2026 the allocation logic changed at the request of an aggregator using the platform: a call used to split the requested reduction evenly across points, and now each point is assigned the power declared for it. The declared values can add up to more than the call, so an aggregator can call 5 MW while requiring 5.25 MW from its customers. The API rejects a call when the requested total does not match the limit and buffer. When a call is created, participants get an SMS and an e-mail with a confirmation link. Ten minutes later the platform checks that every SMS went out and e-mails the operator a list of messages that failed. The platform builds a corrected baseline profile for each call, has a process for rebuilding data after outages, including gaps longer than ten days, and generates the report for each hour shortly after it ends: for a call from 14:00 to 15:00, at 15:15. A customer whose points share a call with other customers sees only the total power of their own points. From our projects [Zeronest - Solar Panel Monitoring App with Automated Battery Management How Order Group built Zeronest's solar panel monitoring app: an EMS that charges, discharges or sells power based on live prices and weather.](https://ordergroup.co/case-studies/zeronest-solar-panel-monitoring-app/) Where to get it - [Zeronest](https://zeronest.pl/) Zeronest offers an energy platform with a demand response module for aggregators and energy cooperatives. We build its software. ## Related terms - [aFRR](https://ordergroup.co/glossary/afrr/) Automatic frequency restoration reserve aFRR (automatic frequency restoration reserve) is a frequency restoration reserve that the grid operator activates automatically, by sending setpoints from its frequency controller, to bring system frequency back to its nominal value. In Poland it must reach full activation within 5 minutes. - [Day-ahead market](https://ordergroup.co/glossary/day-ahead-market/) The day-ahead market is a daily auction in which electricity for each 15-minute period of the next day is bought and sold. In Europe orders close at 12:00 CET and one algorithm sets prices for all coupled bidding zones. - [EMS](https://ordergroup.co/glossary/ems/) Energy management system An energy management system (EMS) is software that reads the meters, inverters and batteries on a site and sends them setpoints, deciding when to charge, discharge, curtail or trade within grid, contract and safety limits. - [Peak shaving](https://ordergroup.co/glossary/peak-shaving/) Peak shaving lowers the highest power a site draws from the grid, usually by discharging a battery or cutting flexible load during the intervals the network tariff measures, so the site avoids capacity overrun fees or qualifies for a lower network charge. ## Read more on the blog - Article [Battery Energy Storage System (BESS): How It Works and What Software It Needs](https://ordergroup.co/blog/battery-energy-storage-system/) ## Sources 1. [Directive (EU) 2019/944 on common rules for the internal market for electricity, Article 2](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019L0944) - EUR-Lex 2. [FAQ - Rynek Mocy (capacity market FAQ)](https://www.pse.pl/faq-rynek-mocy) - PSE 3. [Ocena wpływu reformy rynku bilansującego (assessment of the balancing market reform)](https://www.ure.gov.pl/download/9/15866/Ocenawplywureformyrynkubilansujacego.pdf) - URE Paweł Zieliński reviewed this entry. Ask how it applies to your project. [Ask an engineer](https://ordergroup.co/contact-us/) ## FAQ ![Paweł Zieliński](https://ordergroup.co/media/images/Pawel_p3bY6z4.format-webp.webp) Paweł Zieliński Co-founder & Business Owner [Talk to an engineer](https://ordergroup.co/contact-us/) ### How is demand response different from peak shaving? Peak shaving is a site lowering its own peak to cut its own capacity or network charges. Nobody calls it and nobody pays for it beyond the saving. Demand response reacts to an external signal and, in its explicit form, is paid and settled against a baseline. ### Can a battery or a fleet of home installations take part? Yes, through an aggregator that pools them into a unit large enough for the market. Minimum unit sizes on the Polish balancing market are covered under [aFRR](https://ordergroup.co/glossary/afrr/). ### What meter data does a demand response platform need? Interval data at settlement resolution, usually 15 minutes, for every enrolled point, plus enough history to compute the baseline. Near-real-time telemetry helps operators watch delivery during a call, but settlement normally runs on validated meter data. ### Who decides how the baseline is calculated? The program or market operator does, in its rules. The software has to implement that method exactly and keep each version, because a settlement can be challenged months after the call. Building a system that depends on Demand response? See how we build software for this domain, with case studies and the stack we use. [See Energy Hub](https://ordergroup.co/energy-hub/) Requirements checklist For each term we send the definition and what it requires from your software. Free, no sales call needed. Your checklist is empty. Use the plus next to a term to add it.