What Goes on Behind the Meter:Real Customer Response to Residential Time-of-Use Pricing

摘要

Numerous efforts are ongoing in California and nationally to determine residentialcustomer response to market-based electricity prices. All focus on demand responsiveness asmeasured by changes in load shapes as a result of fluctuations in electricity prices. Althoughreal-time peak load reduction is the primary objective of such programs, few studies haveinvestigated what customers actually do behind the meter to bring about load changes.It would be particularly useful in designing new demand-response technologies andprograms to have information about customers' motivations for participating, their level ofknowledge about how such programs work, ease of use and reliability of technology andequipment, the constraints and problems they encounter in responding to price signals and whatthey actually do during peak hours.The Sacramento Municipal Utility District and the California Energy Commissionpartnered to pilot a customer-controlled time-of-use program, called Power Choice, whichemployed new load management technology and a time-of-use rate with a critical peak period.This technology allowed customers to control various end uses in response to prescribed andcalled hourly prices, and provided near real-time information about energy use.As part of the pilot program evaluation, participants responded to an in-depth survey oftheir behaviors and energy use habits during on- and off-peak hours. These behaviors werecorrelated with estimates of consumption during the various time-of-use periods, and a strongrelationship was found between what customers say they do to save or shift usage, and theirestimated savings. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.