A Critical Assessment of Cost-Based Nash Methods for Demand Scheduling in Smart Grids

Abstract: Demand-side management (DSM) is becoming an increasingly important component of the envisioned smart grid. The ability to improve the efficiency of energy use in the power system by altering demand is widely viewed as being not merely promising but in fact essential. However, while the advantages of DSM are clear, arriving at an efficient implementation has so far proven to be less straightforward. There have recently been many proposals put forth in the literature to tackle the demand scheduling aspect of DSM. One particular approach based on a game-theoretic treatment of the day-ahead load-scheduling problem has recently gained tremendous popularity in the DSM literature. In this letter, an assessment of this approach is conducted, and its main result is challenged.