Wholesale Demand Response in October 2026

A whopping jump in registered capacity of Wholesale Demand Response (WDR) in NSW happened in April 2026.

Our last review in 2025 indicated interest in participation was on the rise. This followed weaker expectations from earlier years.

Now, at the 26th of October 2025, we find NEM-wide capacity at 350 MW. That’s more than double what the level was this time last year.

Capacity

Registration data shows the 350 MW as being is made up of 29 dispatchable units aggregating 280 individual loads.

The following chart captures the changes over time.

Dispatch

As we’ve done previously, to gain some perspective on how the registered units have been used we’ve charted the NEM aggregate dispatch amount in MW. One column per dispatch interval with non-zero dispatch.

The labels annotate the dispatch interval with the highest dispatch amount on the day. Most commonly, past analysis shows these peak times coincide with potential for high prices in the evening peak demand period.

Key periods in the chart, that you can read more about, include:

• 18 December 2025 where LOR2 conditions persisted in NSW.
• 16 – 22 June 2026 that coincided with a long NEM-wide wind lull.
• 12 October 2026 where a line outage in NSW pushed dispatch to draw from high-priced offers.