Time of Use Tariffs
We are investigating whether domestic and small business customers can be incentivised to change the times they use electricity to help network operators manage periods of peak demand. New commercial arrangements and tariff incentives are an important aspect of this. We recognise however, that any tariff options we trial will have to be both commercially viable and appealing to customers to be beneficial.
Why are we doing this?
We want to understand whether domestic and small business customers will shift more of their electricity use out of the peak period (typically weekdays 4-8pm). A good uptake would suggest that customers are prepared to be flexible in return for a rate that reflects the value to networks operators.
Key Facts and Figures
What have we learned so far?
The concept of a Time of Use tariff proved particularly popular with customers and during recruitment this particular trial was significantly oversubscribed. Receiving a smart meter as part of the trial was found to be one of the major motivators from customers wanting to tae part, as was the opportunity to save money on energy bills through simple behavioural changes.
The qualitative feedback and analysis collected by the University of Durham suggests that customers taking part in the trial were generally able to be flexible and schedule routine domestic tasks like washing and cleaning outside of periods of peak demand. Further, trial monitoring data published August 2014, allows us to estimate that the domestic customers who took part in the trial were able to reduce their weekday peak consumption on average by 10.4% and overall consumption by 3.3%. Further analysis on the subject is due throughout the remainder of 2014.
