Peak-off-peak load shifting: Are public willing to accept the peak and off-peak time of use electricity price?

Abstract

Encouraging residential electricity consumers switch from the flat-rate electricity tariff to the peak and off-peak pricing is an important task for demand response management. But are consumers willing to accept the peak and off-peak pricing?-This paper presents the results of a national survey with a sample size of 3863 residential electricity consumers throughout China. The result reveals that nearly two-third of the residential electricity consumers are willing to accept the peak and off-peak pricing. Consumer knowledge is the key driver for consumer acceptance. In addition, the influences of households' electricity consumption and consumers’ socio-economic background profiles on consumer acceptance were also examined. Four barriers to consumer acceptance were identified. Among which, lack of the economic benefit is the primary hurdle. Finally, the managerial implications of this research are discussed.