A method for prioritizing a demand response program event based on occupancy for one or more buildings of one or more building types participating in a demand response program, the method comprising: receiving energy consumption and outside temperature streams Ei(h,T) corresponding to a portion of the one or more buildings, and receiving and employing occupancy components for each of the one or more buildings within the portion to process the streams, and generating occupancy levels corresponding to the one or more buildings within the portion, and assigning the occupancy levels to remaining ones of the one or more buildings not in the portion; and optimizing execution of the demand response program event by employing the occupancy components to prioritize dispatch messages to the one or more buildings to achieve objectives of the demand response program event.