Cooperatives have developed a planning tool to project the expected cost and benefit of demand response (DR) programs. The model is a part of the Open Modeling Framework (OMF), developed by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).

The OMF allows cooperative engineers to run various distribution models, import data from commercial tools, visualize the results, and collaborate through a web interface. The DR model can simulate time of use (TOU), critical peak pricing (CPP), peak time rebate (PTR), and direct load control (DLC) programs for the purpose of cost-benefit analysis (CBA). It uses the Price Impact Simulation Model (PRISM) developed originally by the Brattle Group, a global economic consulting firm, to estimate changes to system load profiles based on changes in incentives. The model calculates net present value (NPV), payback period, and benefit/cost ratio across a program lifetime.