Human-centered determinants of price and incentive-based residential demand response in Ottawa, Canada

Abstract

Considerable evidence suggests that residential demand response enables demand-side flexibility, lowering average electric procurement costs and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the operation of peak power plants. However, the effectiveness of such demand management is contingent on behavioral interventions that attenuate energy saving at the residential level, highlighting the need to better understand the human dimension of residential electricity curtailment. This study examines the influence of interpersonal, socio-economic characteristics and environmental awareness of households in Ottawa on their willingness to participate in demand response programs. Time of use, real-time pricing, critical peak pricing, and direct load control were considered potential candidates for adoption. Furthermore, the authors propose and investigate the willingness of people to receive non-electricity-related information on their in-home displays and participate in an altruistic peer-to-peer energy platform that was conceptualized and designed by the authors. The results suggest that the corporate social and environmental responsibility of electricity providers and the environmental awareness of respondents, as well as their perceived level of indoor comfort, all influence the effectiveness of demand response. The findings also indicate that philanthropic-oriented and information-driven incentives can potentially increase energy curtailment amongst households with a high prosocial responsibility.