[en] The assessment of the benefit or the worth of reliability is perceived as being a major contribution in providing the additional detail in the justification of new system facilities and operating reliability levels provided the required information can be obtained in a consistent and coherent manner. The costs incurred by consumers, customer interruption costs (CIC), as a result of interruptions in their electricity supply are considered key indicators of customer expectations and therefore of reliability worth. The assessment of CIC through surveys is considered to yield the most definitive results. The paper is based on extensive surveys conducted at UMIST. It reports on the customer characteristics of the residential respondents and their experience of interruptions, the undesirability of some effects of interruptions and the variation of undesirability of effects with frequency of interruption, season, time of day and weekday/weekend. The customers' ratings of these aspects are also tested for statistical correlation with the customer and experience of interruption variables. Remarkable agreement on the opinions is displayed across the RECs leading to the expectation that the corresponding CIC derived from the studies will be comparable as well. (author)

[en] Direct purchase of natural gas is now utilized by many groups of customers in Canada. To date, the process has been effected through short-term contractual arrangements for buying gas from Saskatchewan. Longer-term arrangements (5-15 years) for direct purchase of Saskatchewan or Alberta gas are now being actively considered. There are no longer any real barriers to direct purchase of natural gas for groups of customers in Ontario, but much preparation is required to initiate the process and operate it properly in order to maximize the financial benefits. The various formats for direct purchase (buy/sell, T-service, broker mediated), purchase price considerations, and the benefits and risks of direct purchase are reviewed. Potential savings in gas costs are estimated based on a typical 3-bedroom townhouse family unit and a 1-bedroom senior citizen apartment unit. Generally speaking, it is found possible for the townhouse to save about $50/y on the Consumers Gas and ICG Utilities distribution systems and $34/y for a 1-bedroom apartment suite. An umbrella approach for organizing gas supply contracts is recommended, which allows an agent for the consumer group to enter into a preliminary contract with a gas supplier after completion of a tender process. A number of disciplines are essential for initiation and operation of a direct purchase, requiring the services of four individuals possessing various skills. 5 tabs

[en] The Norwegian residential electricity consumption increased by an average of 3% annually during the period 1976-1993. Political signals indicate that the growth in Norwegian residential energy consumption should be reduced, and that it may be necessary to increase energy taxes. Based on data for the sample of households from the annual consumer expenditure survey, we study factors that are of importance explaining the growth in Norwegian residential electricity demand during this period. Nearly half of the growth is due to an increase in the number of households, while the rest reflects an increase in average consumption per household. The increase in average consumption per household is due to an increasing number of households possessing electric household appliances such as dryers and dishwashers, an increase in real disposable household income and in the floor space of dwellings. (author)

[en] In numerous recently deregulated energy markets, utilities previously operating in monopolistic environments are now focusing on customer satisfaction and loyalty. In this study, a conceptual framework is proposed that analyses the effects of brand associations and perceived switching costs on customer satisfaction and loyalty in residential energy markets. Several brand associations relevant to energy branding are identified: perceived technical service quality and service process quality, perception of value-added services, environmental and social commitment of the company, brand trust, price perceptions and brand associations related to the corporate attributes 'innovative and dynamic'. Subsequently, the proposed model is tested in the scope of a representative survey of Spanish residential energy customers. Results indicate that customer satisfaction, brand trust and perceived switching costs are positively related to customer loyalty and that brand trust exerts a stronger influence on customer loyalty than satisfaction and switching costs. Findings also show significant effects of the perception of service process quality and environmental and social commitment on loyalty via customer satisfaction. Implications for energy brand managers and regulators are discussed. [Author]

[en] Highlights: • Storage-based demand response (loadshifting) is underutilized in residential sector. • Economics (arbitrage savings versus equipment cost) are not well understood. • Stochastic demand models and real-life tariffs can illuminate economic viability. • A range of available storage options provide economically viable DR. • Daily/seasonal stochastic demand variations crucial to understanding optimum capacity. - Abstract: Demand response (DR) is one of many approaches to address temporal mismatches in demand and supply of grid electricity. More common in the commercial sector, DR usually refers to reducing consumption at certain hours or seasons, thus reducing peak demand from the grid. In the residential sector, where sophisticated appliance-level controls such as automatic dimming of lights or on-demand lowering of air conditioning are less common, building-based electricity storage to shift grid consumption from peak to off-peak times could provide DR without requiring consumers to operate their appliances on shifted or reduced schedules: Storage would be dispatched to appliances as needed while still shaving peaks on the grid. Technologically, storage and two-way-inverters are readily available to enable such residential DR. Economically, however, the situation is less clear. Specifically, are time-varying electricity tariffs available such that electricity cost reduction via arbitrage could offset manufacturing, financing, and installation costs of the required storage? To address this question we (i) devise an agent-based appliance-level stochastic model to simulate the electricity demand of an average U.S. household; (ii) loadshift the demand via simple dispatch strategies; and (iii) determine potential profits to the building owner, i.e. reduced electricity cost of the modified demand with realistic tariffs (Con Edison, NY) minus storage cost. We determine the economic viability for a range of traditional and advanced storage technologies as well as their optimum storage capacities to maximize profits. We find that (i) profits can range from <1% to 48% of annual electricity costs of a typical household; and (ii) optimum capacities, while approximately equal to households’ kWh consumption during peak hours, is affected by stochastic variations in daily and seasonal consumption. Future improvements to storage technology, arbitrage strategies, and tariffs are discussed. Details of the storage technologies, agent-based model, testing, and benchmarking are supplied as Supplementary Data

[en] This paper addresses the problem of energy saving in the residential sector and its relation to behavior. However, we know little about the mechanisms explaining consumption and use. The aim is to explore the behavioral elements behind patterns of use, so that consumption can be explained and saving possibilities identified. The study is based on detailed, metered data from an ongoing monitoring study. A larger sample from that study made testing of two hypotheses possible. Yet, many factors remain hidden and must be traced among the habits of households. The major part of the article is devoted to an exploration into what other variables are at work. This was done by studying the electricity consumption of seven households closely. Here, different sources of information from each household were combined: detailed, metered data for each lamp or fixture; data from interviews regarding habits; and observations of natural light and lighting equipment at visits. This information from combined sources was used to detect meanings of use and relationships with consumption. What has been found here must be translated to measurable variables and tested on representative samples of populations. This study offers information on these variables identified and how to interpret them

[en] This paper presents a simulation analysis with System Dynamics of the possible diffusion of micro-systems for combined heat-power generation (μ-CHP) as a substitute for centralised electricity generation and local boilers in the residential sector. Decentralised energy production is an important challenge in the 21st century to respond to the threats of exhaustion of non-renewable resources, and of global pollution. The purpose of the System Dynamics modelling is to show the difficulties μ-CHP faces, like most innovative technologies, mainly due to its high investment costs. Feedbacks are important in modelling the diffusion process of this technology and the fundamental aspect of learning effects on the cost decrease. The consumer model is based on the replacement of traditional boilers by μ-CHP installations using the Bass diffusion model. It is shown that natural economic forces are probably not sufficient to achieve a sustained growth. Several incentive schemes to be implemented by the regulatory authorities are investigated to promote this technology

[en] In Austria a considerable number of measures have been implemented to reduce final energy use for residential heating since the 1990s. The aim of this analysis is to investigate, why – despite these implemented measures – final energy use for heating has not decreased in the expected way. The impact of eight factors on final energy use for heating is quantified by applying the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI I) method. The dataset covers the sector of private households in Austria for the period from 1993 to 2009. The main findings of the analysis are: (1) while technical improvements reduce final energy use for heating significantly, rising comfort needs nearly outweigh these savings. (2) Consumer behaviour reduces calculated final energy use considerably. (3) The extent of this reduction is declining significantly in the period observed. (4) The growing share of single-family houses has increased energy demand for heating in the observed period, though a reversal of this trend is detected from 2007 onwards. (5) The impact of growing floor space per person is the major effect revealed by the analysis. (6) Weather conditions have a major impact on annual fluctuations of energy consumption. -- Highlights: •We did an Index decomposition analysis of the Austrian residential heating demand. •Eight impact factors on heating demand have been identified. •Rising comfort needs outweigh savings caused by technical improvements. •Consumer behaviour has a major impact on residential final energy use for heating. •Weather changes play a major role when analysing annual changes in energy use

[en] Orissa is the first state in India to have undergone reform in the power sector, with the government withdrawing its control. The model of this reform is known as the WB-Orissa model. The goal of this paper is to examine the impact of this reform on consumers of electricity, which has been measured using multiple regression models. The variables represent the parameters that consumers are most interested in, and the regression coefficients represent the weights of the corresponding variables. The data were collected using a survey methodology. The impact of reform was found to be mixed. Some groups of consumers saw benefits, while others felt a negative impact. A focus group study was conducted to identify the variables of interest to consumers of electricity. The model was used to estimate consumer benefit and was validated using primary data and structural equation modeling. The study revealed beneficial aspects of reform and areas with no benefits. - Highlights: → Linear regression model with seven variables explains consumer benefit. → Governance issue exists after power sector reform of Orissa. → Reform benefited most consumers with a few exceptions. → Reform affected agricultural consumers.

[en] An option available to governments and to utilities such as Hydro-Quebec for responding to objectives of energy efficiency is the adoption of marginal cost pricing. Compared to currently used price structures, marginal cost pricing will allow improvement of price signals and assure an optimal utilization of the resource. That type of pricing could be economically beneficial but may not be desirable from the point of view of revenue distribution. Taking account of Hydro-Quebec's cost structure, pure marginal cost pricing would generate an income that would be strongly contested on equity grounds. For example, it would raise prices 60% for residential customers. Faced with this possibility, an analysis is presented of the impact of a peak-offpeak pricing (or pure marginal cost pricing) on Hydro-Quebec's residential customer energy bills. The marginal costs of Hydro-Quebec are calculated by the method of Bernard and Chatel (1985) and analysis of the results is based on Friedman and Weare (1993). A sample of 28,417 residential customers from a 1989 Hydro-Quebec survey is used in the study. Two scenarios are analyzed; the first allowing comparison of the energy bill only on the basis of marginal costs and of average costs, and the second allowing comparison of the impact of marginal cost pricing on the total bill. In the first scenario, the impact translates into a 31% increase in energy bills for the entire customer class considered; in addition, this impact is inversely proportional to the revenue class. In the second scenario, the increase is 24%. 33 refs., 10 figs., 53 tabs