Various residential electricity pricing strategies provide diverse methods for calculating consumption costs. Due to the existence of electricity company monopolies and single residential electricity pricing systems, residents of certain areas have no option but to accept the electricity pricing offered to them. Based on local residential electricity pricing strategies, a virtual electricity retailer (VER) mechanism is put forward. The proposed VER mechanism includes a pricing package plan (PPP), a consumption-based plan, an add-on plan, and an exclusive plan. A PPP optimization pricing model was established to maximize VER profits when taking into account income, allowances from sponsors, expenditures and customer savings. Finally, payment processes were designed under a fixed pricing system and a time-of-use pricing environment. This case study shows the impact of PPPs and the allowance and demonstrates that the model helps customers save electricity while maximizing VER profits.
Demand response (DR) has received much attention for its ability to balance the changing power supply and demand with flexibility. DR aggregators play an important role in aggregating flexible loads that are too small to participate in electricity markets. In this work, a DR operation framework is presented to enable local management of customers to participate in electricity market. A novel optimization model is proposed for the DR aggregator with multiple objectives. On one hand, it attempts to obtain the optimal design of different DR contracts as well as the portfolio management so that the DR aggregator can maximize its profit. On the other hand, the customers'welfare should be maximized to incentivize users to enroll in DR programs which ensure the effective and flexible load control. The consumer psychology is introduced to model the consumers'behavior during contract signing. Several simulation studies are performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed model. The results illustrate that the proposed model can ensure the profit of the DR aggregator whereas the customers'welfare is considered.
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