THE SUPPLY OF ENERGY SERVICES : DO LOCAL SERVICE PROVIDERS USE DSO OR TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

摘要

The deployment of smart technologies in energy sector and environmental or energy policy goals have increase the role of information needed to deliver energy services to end users. However, electricity firms need to overpass uncertainty linked to new business models, expected regulations and potential entrants, which are some factors from all those that inhibit the smart grid transition (Shomali and Pinkse, 2016). Namely, Local Service Providers (LSPs) could offer several energy services to inform consumers and to help them improve their overall energy efficiency. These services could be of a wide range, using sensors to manage consumption of appliances. Relying on energy boxes or smart meters, they could use different kind of user interface to display consumers’ energy data, such as an in home display or an Internet platform. To provide these services and thus manage a bidirectional transfer of data, LSPs could use mainly two networks. The first one is the Distribution System Operator (DSO) network, wich could be used to send signals or informations to consumers, through for instance any in home display connected to the smart meter. They also could use the household electricity network with smart meters to receive some informations on consumption or directly manage some appliances, as it is currently done for water-heater under time of use tariffs. As the business of the DSO is regulated, LSPs should pay a regulated access fee to use the electricity network. Beside the DSO network, LSPs could also use the “classic” telecommunication network, using for instance an energy box connected to the consumers’ Internet access. In this case, LSPs do not contract with the DSO but directly with consumers : on the one hand to provide the expected energy services and on the other hand to use a defined bandwith of their Internet access. In that case, LSPs could have to compensate consumers for that bandwith. If not, LSPs could directly contract with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to use a defined bandwith at a negociated price, the Internet sector being competitive. Two effects could be observed following this negociation. The first one is that the Internet access price could drive the supply of energy services if the two networks are not substitute. Thus, ISPs market power impacts the LSPs activity on the energy sector. The second one is that if LSPs widely use the Internet network, ISPs must invest and develop it to make sure energy services could be served. Then, ISPs must recover their additional investment costs (Heidell and Ware, 2010).