Understanding Residential Electricity Consumption Considering Energy Efficiency Policies and The Impact On the Electricity System

Abstract

Electricity consumption increases substantially over the years where residential use significantly contributes to the overall consumption. The growth in the population and variety of home appliances together with increasing comfort levels of the people results in higher levels of residential electricity use. In fact, nearly one fourth of Turkey's total electricity consumption is due to the domestic use. To achieve global sustainability targets and reduce the overall electricity use, focusing on the domestic consumption is crucial. In this research, the energy consumptions patterns of households are determined to identify the potential electricity savings existing in the residential sector. Moreover, specific policy recommendations, which can promote the behavioral change, are driven by measuring the responsiveness of people to different measures and the combinations of these measures such as information, feedback, rewards, and social influences. A survey was conducted to determine the patterns and the responsiveness of the residential customers. The results obtained from the survey are used to depict a general view of Turkish households towards electricity consumption behaviors and their energy efficiency attitudes. Responses indicate there should be more regulations and improvements in energy policy. An electricity allocation problem is solved in order to see possible impacts of behavioral change measures on the network. Scenarios are defined for each policy and allocation problem is solved to see the possible generation cost reduction. Also, gas emissions for each scenario is recorded to understand the possible effects of policies on the environment. Results show that behavioral change studies seem to be well worth to study. In order to reach residential efficiency, possible policy alternatives are suggested for Turkish households.