  This paper introduces the design of a demand response network control
strategy aimed at thermostatically controlled electric heating and cooling
systems in buildings. The method relies on the use of programmable
communicating thermostats, which are able to provide important component-level
state variables to a system-level central controller. This information can be
used to build power density distribution functions for the aggregate heat pump
load. These functions lay out the fundamental basis for the methodology by
allowing for consideration of customer-level constraints within the
system-level decision making process. The proposed strategy is then implemented
in a computational model to simulate a distribution of buildings, where the
aggregate heat pump load is managed to provide the regulation services needed
to successfully integrate wind power generators. Increased exploitation of wind
resources will place similarly themed ancillary services in high-demand,
traditionally provided by dispatchable energy resources that are ill-suited for
the frequent power gradients that accompany wind power generation.
