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AbstractWe analysed the peak load reductions due to a residential direct load control program for air-conditioners in one jurisdiction in southern Ontario in 2008. In this program, participant thermostats were increased by 2°C for four hours on five event days (when systemwide capacity was expected to be strained). We used hourly, whole-house data for 195 load control participant households and 268 non-participant households, and four different methods of analysis ranging from simple spreadsheet-based comparisons of average loads on event days, to complex time-series regression. Average peak load reductions were 0.2-0.9 kW per household, or 10-35%. However, there were large differences (up to a factor of four) between event days and across event hours, and in results for the same event day/hour with different analysis methods. There was also a wide range of load reductions between individual households. Policy makers would be 1 '" wise to consider multiple analysis methods when making decisions regarding which demand-side management programs to support, and how they might be incentivized .Further investigation of what type of households contribute most to aggregate load reductions would also help policy makers better target programs.