Renewable energy has been increasingly integrated into clean electricity generation, which helps to reduce the dependence on fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the report from REN21, the installed capacity of renewable energy has grown to over 33% of the global total installed capacity, and the installed renewable electricity capacity at the end of 2018 was sufficient to supply approximately 26.2% of global electricity production [1]. The Zero-Carbon China report states that China’s total power demand will increase from about 6 trillion kWh in 2016 to about 15 trillion kWh in 2050 in order to achieve a zero-carbon economy, of which nearly 70% of its electricity will come from solar and wind energy [2]. With the increase of renewable sources penetration in electricity generation, the intermittent and limited controllability of renewable energy generation restricts the security, reliability, and sustainability of the power systems [3,4]. Power systems should be more flexible to maintain economic profitability, and operation safety [5].

Demand-side management (DSM), as an important controllable virtual resource, has the advantages of low marginal cost and short response time, and can effectively overcome the randomness of renewable energy generation and the adverse impacts of power supply and demand mismatch on power system [6,7]. Furthermore, by increasing end-user participation and responsiveness, it has greater flexibility than expanding power generation and distribution capabilities, and affects consumer demand for greater technical and environmental efficiency [8,9]. Therefore, demand response is considered as the most promising option for integrating renewable sources and increasing the flexibility of the power system [10,11]. It is noticeable that the market mechanism significantly affects the development of demand response. Only by giving full play to the role of the market and intelligently managing the demand-side can the potential of demand response be fully realized [12,13]. With the advancement of China’s smart grid construction and power marketization reforms, and the continuous improvement of domestic electrification, the ability for residents to participate in demand response is greatly stimulated [14,15].

However, researches on the obstacles and challenges of demand response suggest that how to change residential energy consumption behaviors to achieve sufficient response has become a core part of the successful implementation of demand response management [16,17]. Although the concept of demand response is based on the assumption of rational decision-making by end-use customers, residential energy consumption behavior is often irrational and affected by numerous factors, such as values, daily habits, social norms, and personal preferences [18,19]. The factors of how public perception affects demand response should be investigated to develop efficient demand response strategies [20]. Thus, it is necessary to further analyze public attitudes towards demand response in combination with the factors affecting the residents’ energy consumption behavior.

The aims of this research are twofold for sustainable power demand-side regulation. Firstly, public perceptions of energy demand response are measured from different perspectives, including public willingness to participate (WTP) from material and spiritual incentives, public preferences for different participation forms and measures, and public perception of the difficulty of participating in energy demand response. Secondly, combining with economic, social, and psychological drivers of energy consumption behaviors, this research quantitatively analyzes the relationships between major influencing factors and public WTP in energy demand response. This research divides these factors into five categories, including socio-demographic characteristics, energy-saving attitudes, behavior abilities, external motivating factors, and energy-saving technologies. In this way, it is possible to provide a panorama of the public responsiveness to energy demand response, thereby assessing the potential of residential demand response, and to propose a policy framework for the successful implementation of residential demand response.