Investigating the impact of demand side management on residential customers

Abstract

Abstract--With the advent of smart meters and smart appliances, residential demand side management (DSM) schemes could potentially happen on a considerably larger scale. From the Distribution Network Operator perspective, intelligent control of appliances could help reduce peaks in demand and thus defer reinforcements of the low-voltage (LV) network. For the consumer, in a scenario where dynamic pricing is in place, peak reduction might also provide another strategy to reduce energy costs. However, the successful implementation of these techniques is contingent on the willingness of residential consumers to accept them. This, in turn, depends on the negative effects that this control might have on the consumers' comfort and convenience. This paper investigates the impact of a DSM scheme that shifts residential high-power appliances (loads) to reduce the overall peak of households connected to the same LV feeder. Simulations are run using high-resolution historical data for Central-East England. Results are encouraging; showing not only that the proposed DSM scheme has great potential for peak reduction, but, more importantly, that the negative impact on the consumers is minimal. These findings could be used to promote such schemes and increase public acceptance.Index Terms--Customer inconvenience, demand side management, energy efficiency, high-resolution domestic load data, residential electricity demand. I. INTRODUCTIONEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT (DSM) is a mechanism through which the load of some customers is managed (i.e., reduced or shifted to a different time period) in response to certain conditions (e.g., price, network constraints, emergencies, etc.). As a concept, DSM is not new and has been applied by transmission and distribution network operators mainly to reduce costs or relieve dangerous system operating conditions. These activities usually involved mostly industrial and commercial customers and took place within an agreed contractual framework.With the advent of smart meters and smart appliances, residential DSM schemes open up the possibility of applying such schemes on a much larger scale. Indeed, in the UK, residential customers account for approximately 36% of the A) Load priority techniques: Domestic appliances of an individual consumer (or a group of consumers) are classified by their importance. When a given condition is reached, single loads (i.e., appliances) can be disconnected by a central management system according to the specified priority [5]- [6].B) Control of appliances: Rather than disconnecting appliances, their power requirements are reduced or their operation is delayed [7]. It has been reported that peak load reductions of up to 60% could be achieved in UK households by developing 'load-conscious' control algorithms for cooking and washing appliances [1].C) Differential tariffs: By using different electricity tariffs, for instance during peak and off-peak hours, residential consumers can be encouraged to adapt their behavior [5]-[8]. A practical example of this is the UK's Economy...

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