How are peak demand and peak load typically managed?

• A. By expanding coal capacity only.
• B. By ignoring variations.
• C. By peaking plants and demand response.
• D. By migrating to off-grid systems.

Answer: (C)

The main idea is balancing supply and demand during the times of highest electricity use by combining flexible generation with customer-side management. Peaking plants are built to start quickly and run for short periods, providing the extra power required when demand spikes. Demand response uses price signals or direct control to reduce or shift a portion of the load during peak times, so customers cut back or move usage to quieter periods.

This combination is effective because it addresses the variability of peak demand without relying on continuously running very large, inflexible plants. It keeps costs and emissions lower than constantly expanding baseload capacity, and it improves reliability by having both a quick-response supply option and a demand-side option to reduce stress on the grid.

Why the other ideas aren’t as suitable: expanding coal capacity alone can’t meet rapid peak swings efficiently since coal plants aren’t designed for fast ramping, and it involves long development times and higher emissions. Ignoring variations ignores grid reliability and can lead to shortages or price spikes. Migrating to off-grid systems doesn’t solve grid-wide peak issues and isn’t practical for supplying the whole network.