Public Relations to Load Management: A Summary of Baseline Community Data for the Athens Automation and Control Experiment

摘要

Residential electric utility customers in Athens, TN and Bristol, TN were interviewed to determine public attitudes about participation in a major demonstration of load management and automated distribution of electric power. The sampling and interviewing methods are described, and the results are tabulated and interpreted. The major findings was that all groups are favorably disposed toward participating in a demonstration of load management and automated distribution. In the Athens sample, 58.8% of the respondents indicated that they were likely to participated; in the Bristol sample 51.5% and in the Audit sample 70.3% indicated that they were likely to participate. Willingness to participate is predicted by a combination of perceived outcomes and social support. Those who perceive positive outcomes from a demonstration and/or social support for participation are most likely to participate. Except for this rather sturdy relationship (about 30% of the variation in potential participation is explained), all relationships are modest. There are slight tendencies for respondents of higher socioeconomic status to participate and slight tendencies for respondents with more major electrical appliances to participate. None of these relationships is strong enough to provide an easily identified index that readily predicts participation.