IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joepsy/v61y2017icp1-14.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nudging electricity consumption using TOU pricing and feedback: evidence from Irish households

Author

Listed:
  • Cosmo, Valeria Di
  • O’Hora, Denis

Abstract

This paper analyses the electricity usage of 5000 Irish residential consumers in response to the introduction of Time Of Use (TOU) tariffs and three different forms of financial feedback: immediate feedback from in-home displays (IHD), monthly billing and bimonthly billing. Half-hourly data on consumption collected during the trial indicated that TOU tariffs reduced consumption at peak, with some reductions lasting beyond the end of the peak period and post-peak spikes in usage were not observed. IHD feedback resulted in the most reliable reductions and bimonthly billing the least. Moreover, consumers slightly increase the electricity usage during the first hours of the night and early in the morning. Households with greater education react to the information associated to the TOU tariffs slightly more than the average.

Suggested Citation

  • Cosmo, Valeria Di & O’Hora, Denis, 2017. "Nudging electricity consumption using TOU pricing and feedback: evidence from Irish households," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:61:y:2017:i:c:p:1-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2017.03.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167487017301538
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.joep.2017.03.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hunt Allcott, 2011. "Consumers' Perceptions and Misperceptions of Energy Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 98-104, May.
    2. Faruqui, Ahmad & Harris, Dan & Hledik, Ryan, 2010. "Unlocking the [euro]53 billion savings from smart meters in the EU: How increasing the adoption of dynamic tariffs could make or break the EU's smart grid investment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 6222-6231, October.
    3. ITO Koichiro & IDA Takanori & TANAKA Makoto, 2015. "The Persistence of Moral Suasion and Economic Incentives: Field experimental evidence from energy demand," Discussion papers 15014, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    4. Elizabeth Shove, 2004. "Efficiency and Consumption: Technology and Practice," Energy & Environment, , vol. 15(6), pages 1053-1065, November.
    5. Filippini, Massimo, 1995. "Swiss residential demand for electricity by time-of-use," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 281-290, November.
    6. Xavier Gabaix & David Laibson, 2018. "Shrouded attributes, consumer myopia and information suppression in competitive markets," Chapters, in: Victor J. Tremblay & Elizabeth Schroeder & Carol Horton Tremblay (ed.), Handbook of Behavioral Industrial Organization, chapter 3, pages 40-74, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Lunn, Pete & Somerville, Jason J., 2015. "Surplus Identification with Non-Linear Returns," Papers WP522, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    8. Katrina Jessoe & David Rapson, 2014. "Knowledge Is (Less) Power: Experimental Evidence from Residential Energy Use," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(4), pages 1417-1438, April.
    9. Finn, P. & O’Connell, M. & Fitzpatrick, C., 2013. "Demand side management of a domestic dishwasher: Wind energy gains, financial savings and peak-time load reduction," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 678-685.
    10. Massimo Filippini, 1995. "Swiss Residential Demand for Electricity by Time-of-Use: An Application of the Almost Ideal Demand System," The Energy Journal, , vol. 16(1), pages 27-39, January.
    11. Paul L. Joskow, 2012. "Creating a Smarter U.S. Electricity Grid," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(1), pages 29-48, Winter.
    12. Loewenstein, George & Thaler, Richard H, 1989. "Intertemporal Choice," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 3(4), pages 181-193, Fall.
    13. Valeria Di Cosmo, Sean Lyons, and Anne Nolan, 2014. "Estimating the Impact of Time-of-Use Pricing on Irish Electricity Demand," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    14. Feuerriegel, Stefan & Neumann, Dirk, 2016. "Integration scenarios of Demand Response into electricity markets: Load shifting, financial savings and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 231-240.
    15. Aubin, Christophe, et al, 1995. "Real-Time Pricing of Electricity for Residential Customers: Econometric Analysis of an Experiment," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(S), pages 171-191, Suppl. De.
    16. Mountain, Dean C. & Lawson, Evelyn L., 1995. "Some initial evidence of Canadian responsiveness to time-of-use electricity rates: Detailed daily and monthly analysis," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 189-212, August.
    17. Shane Frederick & George Loewenstein & Ted O'Donoghue, 2002. "Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 351-401, June.
    18. Walsh, Darragh & Malaguzzi Valeri, Laura & Di Cosmo, Valeria, 2016. "Strategic bidding, wind ownership and regulation in a decentralised electricity market," MPRA Paper 71502, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Scott, Susan & Lyons, Sean & Keane, Claire & McCarthy, Donal & Tol, Richard S. J., 2008. "Fuel Poverty in Ireland: Extent, Affected Groups and Policy Issues," Papers WP262, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    20. Ahmad Faruqui & Sanem Sergici, 2010. "Household response to dynamic pricing of electricity: a survey of 15 experiments," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 193-225, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sulaima, Mohamad Fani & Dahlan, Nofri Yenita & Yasin, Zuhaila Mat & Rosli, Marlinda Mohd & Omar, Zulkiflee & Hassan, Mohammad Yusri, 2019. "A review of electricity pricing in peninsular Malaysia: Empirical investigation about the appropriateness of Enhanced Time of Use (ETOU) electricity tariff," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 348-367.
    2. McAndrew, Ryan & Mulcahy, Rory & Gordon, Ross & Russell-Bennett, Rebekah, 2021. "Household energy efficiency interventions: A systematic literature review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    3. Valeria Di Cosmo & Elisa Trujillo-Baute, 2018. "From Forward to Spot Prices: Producers, Retailers and Loss Averse Consumers in Electricity Markets," Working Papers 2018.31, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    4. Hofmann, Matthias & Lindberg, Karen Byskov, 2024. "Evidence of households' demand flexibility in response to variable hourly electricity prices – Results from a comprehensive field experiment in Norway," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    5. Andruszkiewicz, Jerzy & Lorenc, Józef & Weychan, Agnieszka, 2020. "Seasonal variability of price elasticity of demand of households using zonal tariffs and its impact on hourly load of the power system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    6. Kang, Jieyi & Reiner, David M., 2022. "What is the effect of weather on household electricity consumption? Empirical evidence from Ireland," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    7. Hari Agung Yuniarto & Nur Mayke Eka Normasari & Sella Friscilla Silalahi & Irene Clarisa Gunawan & Deendarlianto & Indra Ardhanayudha Aditya & Arionmaro Asi Simaremare & Fajar Nurrohman Haryadi, 2024. "Customer behaviour towards energy usage with time of use tariff: a systematic literature review," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(1), pages 44-61, February.
    8. Chen, Xiao & Zanocco, Chad & Flora, June & Rajagopal, Ram, 2022. "Constructing dynamic residential energy lifestyles using Latent Dirichlet Allocation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    9. Eoghan O'Neill & Melvyn Weeks, 2018. "Causal Tree Estimation of Heterogeneous Household Response to Time-Of-Use Electricity Pricing Schemes," Papers 1810.09179, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2019.
    10. Barjaková, Martina & Belton, Cameron & Purcell, Karl & Lunn, Pete, 2021. "Efficient ways of communicating time-of-use electricity tariffs in Ireland: Plain and simple," Papers WP704, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    11. O'Neill, E. & Weeks, M., 2018. "Causal Tree Estimation of Heterogeneous Household Response to Time-Of-Use Electricity Pricing Schemes," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1865, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    12. L. (Lisa B.) Ryan & Sarah La Monaca & Linda Mastrandrea & Petr Spodniak, 2018. "Harnessing electricity retail tariffs to support climate change policy," Open Access publications 10197/9911, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    13. Nikolaos Iliopoulos & Motoharu Onuki & Miguel Esteban, 2021. "Shedding Light on the Factors That Influence Residential Demand Response in Japan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-23, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valeria Di Cosmo & Elisa Trujillo-Baute, 2018. "From Forward to Spot Prices: Producers, Retailers and Loss Averse Consumers in Electricity Markets," Working Papers 2018.31, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    2. Boßmann, Tobias & Eser, Eike Johannes, 2016. "Model-based assessment of demand-response measures—A comprehensive literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1637-1656.
    3. Takanori Ida & Wenjie Wang, 2014. "A Field Experiment on Dynamic Electricity Pricing in Los Alamos:Opt-in Versus Opt-out," Discussion papers e-14-010, Graduate School of Economics Project Center, Kyoto University.
    4. Burlinson, Andrew & Giulietti, Monica & Battisti, Giuliana, 2018. "Technology adoption, consumer inattention and heuristic decision-making: Evidence from a UK district heating scheme," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 1873-1886.
    5. Meyabadi, A. Fattahi & Deihimi, M.H., 2017. "A review of demand-side management: Reconsidering theoretical framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 367-379.
    6. Rious, Vincent & Perez, Yannick & Roques, Fabien, 2015. "Which electricity market design to encourage the development of demand response?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 128-138.
    7. Massimo, Filippini, 2011. "Short- and long-run time-of-use price elasticities in Swiss residential electricity demand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 5811-5817, October.
    8. Cappers, Peter A. & Todd-Blick, Annika, 2021. "Heterogeneity in own-price residential customer demand elasticities for electricity under time-of-use rates: Evidence from a randomized-control trial in the United States," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    9. Valeria Di Cosmo & Sean Lyons & Anne Nolan, 2014. "Estimating the Impact of Time-of-Use Pricing on Irish Electricity Demand," The Energy Journal, , vol. 35(2), pages 117-136, April.
    10. Märkle-Huß, Joscha & Feuerriegel, Stefan & Neumann, Dirk, 2018. "Large-scale demand response and its implications for spot prices, load and policies: Insights from the German-Austrian electricity market," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 1290-1298.
    11. Cédric Clastres & Haikel Khalfallah, 2020. "Retailers' strategies facing demand response and markets interactions," Working Papers hal-03167543, HAL.
    12. Yan, Xing & Ozturk, Yusuf & Hu, Zechun & Song, Yonghua, 2018. "A review on price-driven residential demand response," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 411-419.
    13. Thoa Thi Kim Nguyen & Koji Shimada & Yuki Ochi & Takuya Matsumoto & Hiroshi Matsugi & Takao Awata, 2016. "An Experimental Study of the Impact of Dynamic Electricity Pricing on Consumer Behavior: An Analysis for a Remote Island in Japan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-22, December.
    14. Ciarreta, Aitor & Espinosa, Maria Paz & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina, 2023. "Pricing policies for efficient demand side management in liberalized electricity markets," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    15. Strong, Derek Ryan, 2017. "The Early Diffusion of Smart Meters in the US Electric Power Industry," Thesis Commons 7zprk, Center for Open Science.
    16. Michael K. Price, 2014. "Using field experiments to address environmental externalities and resource scarcity: major lessons learned and new directions for future research," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 30(4), pages 621-638.
    17. Feuerriegel, Stefan & Neumann, Dirk, 2014. "Measuring the financial impact of demand response for electricity retailers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 359-368.
    18. Takanori Ida, Kayo Murakami, and Makoto Tanaka, 2016. "Electricity demand response in Japan: Experimental evidence from a residential photovoltaic power-generation system," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    19. Weber, Sylvain & Puddu, Stefano & Pacheco, Diana, 2017. "Move it! How an electric contest motivates households to shift their load profile," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 255-270.
    20. Clastres, Cédric & Khalfallah, Haikel, 2021. "Dynamic pricing efficiency with strategic retailers and consumers: An analytical analysis of short-term market interactions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:61:y:2017:i:c:p:1-14. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/joep .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.