Variability of local demands as the framework for future energy planning

Long term planning of energy demands may be impossible without in-depth consideration of factors found at present to be of little importance. We have undertaken a pilot survey of energy demand fluctuations in North West England in an attempt to identify factors which at present cause slight perturbations in the demand patterns but which may, in the future, become more relevant. Our results suggest that, as well as the known factors (ie industrial to domestic consumer ratio and regional temperature) other parameters, particularly socio-economic status, population and building density and possibly even secondary meteorological fluctuations affect the energy demand curves. National policies which will alter energy demand (ie encouragement of alternative technologies, pricing policies, industrial and population resiting) must take into consideration the increasing influence of the factors identified here.