A Speedometer
Think of electricity like a car. The speedometer measures the maximum speed the car can travel, much like demand (kW) measures the maximum amount of energy used at one time. The odometer measures distance traveled, much like consumption (kWh) measures energy used. The car's motor is built for the maximum speed, regardless of how many miles it may travel. The same applies to electric systems.
Two cars could travel the same 100 mile road, one at 10 mph for 10 hours and the other at 100 mph for 1 hour. It takes a much more capable and expensive engine to power the car at 100 mph than it does to power the one going only 10 mph.
Filling The Bucket
Suppose you want to fill a 5 gallon bucket with water. You can use an inexpensive hose connection to your sink providing 1 gallon per minute to do it, and it will take 5 minutes. Or you can get to a more expensive large faucet that provides 5 gallons per minute, it will fill in just one minute. The flow rate is the equivalent to demand, and the 5 gallons of water are equivalent to consumption. In this example, filling both buckets has the same "consumption" but very different "demands".
Sports Fans
Sports stadiums are built to hold thousands of fans for a few hours. The rest of the year, they are largely vacant. However, the seats, restrooms, concession stands and parking spots remain. In this comparison, the people (sports fans) in the stadium are like the demand or kW. The electric grid is like a stadium because NWEC and Buckeye Power (our wholesale power supplier) have to build the electric system to accommodate the maximum amount of electricity needed, even if the member don't use the maximum capacity all day, every day of the year.
You could compare this sports stadium analogy to a grain drying service. It has to be built to serve a substantial load, but it is only used a few weeks each year. A grain dryer service may have a high demand for three weeks of the year and a demand of zero during the rest of the year.
