Six unique load shapes: A segmentation analysis of Illinois residential electricity consumers

Abstract

Many electricity policies have disparate impacts on consumers with different load shapes. This study applies k-means clustering to 2.5 million Illinois customers, and matches six resulting clusters with demographics. Flatter load shapes were more likely in urban and low-income areas, with high-volume, peak usage more likely in high-income/suburban areas. This highlights potential for grid cost reduction through DR programs targeting suburban areas, and illustrates potential cross-subsidization intrinsic to common electric rate designs.