Is it time for daily time-of-use electricity prices?

Abstract

The large-scale roll-out of so-called 'smart' electricity meters that record electricity consumption at frequent intervals gives electricity retailers the opportunity to vary price over the course of a day potentially better matching price to production cost. Of interest to both retailers and policy makers is how New Zealanders might respond to pricing plans that include 'time-of-use' pricing. In this seminar I report the results of a year-long experiment in which a sample of households in suburban Auckland volunteered to experience peak/off-peak price differentials of 4 cent; 10 cent; or 20 cent; per kilowatt hour. These households also received better-than-conventional information about their electricity consumption: a simple chart in their monthly bill depicting daily peak and off-peak consumption.