I. Introduction
Peak demand hours, which happen for only a portion of time in any given year, renders the existing U.S. power grid less efficient. For example, 10% of all generation assets and 25% of distribution infrastructure are required for less than 400 hours per year, roughly 5% of the time [1]. One way to overcome this inefficiency is to modify demand, particularly during peak hours, which is the focus of demand response (DR) programs.