Abstract/Summary

Introduction of Time-of-Use (ToU) tariffs have the potential to motivate consumers to flex their energy use and, by utilising their flexibility, support the reduction in peak electricity demand. In return, lower peak demand could also reduce the system costs due to the reduced need for peaking generation and network reinforcement. By their nature, ToU tariffs would penalise consumers with high consumption during peak periods and who are not able to exercise flexibility. Therefore to ensure the affordability of energy bills it is important to understand the relationship between the timing of activities in the household and socio-demographic properties of the consumers. This paper uses UK Time Use survey data to cluster households by their energy-related activities during the peak electricity demand periods, model the corresponding electricity demand and analyse the impact of ToU tariffs across several socio-demographic parameters. Results show that similar patterns of energy related activities exist for the clusters with different socio-demographic parameters (e.g. family structure or income). Findings also show that there is no single dominant socio-demographic parameter that defines the winners or losers from the introduction of ToU tariff.