New DOE report outlines how utilities can best manage & market time-of-use rates
Utility Dive, June 17, 2015. Image credit: Unsplash
The 10 participating utilities studied different types of rate treatments, the use of in-home displays and programmable thermostats, and the differences between opt-in and opt-out recruitment strategies.
The study found that for critical-peak, event-driven demand response programs, average demand reductions ranged from 11% to 30% for both critical peak pricing (CPP) and critical peak rebates (CPR). Average reductions for CPP programs were about twice the size of rebate programs – 21% versus 11%, the study found, though when automated thermostat controls are added into the mix both programs returned about a 30% reduction.
Of customers that had a programmable communicating thermostat, greater average peak reductions were achieved, as high as 45%, but customers on either type of pricing plan showed little interest in in-home energy monitoring devices.
