Gansemer

Electricity pricing plans and their potential use for load shifting in electricity grids
Sebastian Gansemer

In electricity grids supply and demand must meet at every. Peaks in demand lead to inefficient and expensive electricity production. Current electricity pricing plans for private customers in Germany and most of Europe charge the same price per unit independent from time of use. With those tariffs there is no incentive for customers to reduce or shift demand in peak hours. More innovative pricing plans aim to reduce demand in peak hours and increase demand in low-peak hours to flatten the total load curve. To achieve that suppliers give price incentives to customers with higher electricity prices in peak times and lower prices in off-peak times. The presentation will show how innovative electricity pricing plans work, how users react and how load can be shifted to avoid demand peaks. Evaluations from different field trials around the world show that peak demand can be reduced significantly. However, the load shifting potential depends on different aspects such as price structure, customer group, communication between electricity provider and customer, announcements of price changes and the use of price controlled load management systems. Field trials also found that total electricity consumption decreases due to incomplete substitution of peak demand to off-peak demand.

Contact: Dipl. Betriebswirt Sebastian Gansemer Fachhochschule Dortmund Mobile Business – Mobile Systems Emil-Figge-Str. 44 44227 Dortmund Germany Tel.: 0231 755 6291 Email: sebastian.gansemer@fh-dortmund.de