FirstEnergy's Smart Grid Investment Grant - Consumer Behavior Study
June 15, 2015
Electric Power Research Institute
None
FirstEnergy has undertaken a three-year consumer behavior study (CBS) to evaluate residential customer response to alternative inducements (experimental treatments) to alter their electricity usage during the afternoon hours of hot summer days. Work was performed under funding from a federal Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG). The focal point of the study was to quantify how residential customers respond to a monetary inducement, such as peak time rebate (PTR), to reduce load during pre-specified hours (events) with a day's advance notice. In addition, the study evaluated the impacts of two enabling technologies on customer response: the in-home display (IHD) and programmable controllable thermostat (PCT). Only customers identified as having central air conditioning were eligible to receive a PCT. The customers without central air were eligible to receive an IHD.
