Consumer and Community in the Future Electricity Network: an Insight from Smart Grid Projects in Europe

Integration of growing shares of renewable energy sources into the electricity networks have resulted in the need for electricity network upgrade through pervasive deployment of information and communication technologies. Having power sources close to the consumer premises and exploiting the potential of smart metering infrastructure may lead to consumers’ empowerment and energy savings. Therefore, the consumer should be approached with clear engagement strategies in the early stages of the technological system development. The analysis of European smart grid projects points to an increasing interest in consumers and communities as focal players for the success of the future electricity system. This necessitates characterization of the consumer as well as the community from what concerns values, beliefs and goals that are culturally and geographically located. In this context, this contribution presents and discusses some EU smart grid projects with a focus on consumers and on their interactions within the community. The abstract also demonstrates successful consumers’ engagement strategies in large-scale deployment of smart metering systems at national level, highlighting the need to address social needs and concerns at an early stage of the technological system development

An agent-based model of electricity consumer: Smart metering policy implications in Europe

EU Regulation 2009/72/EC concerning common rules for internal market in electricity calls upon 80% of EU electricity consumers to be equipped with smart metering systems by 2020, provided that a positive economic assessment of all long-term costs and benefits to the market and the individual consumer is guaranteed. Understanding the impact that smart metering systems may have on the electricity stakeholders (consumers, distribution system operators, energy suppliers and the society at large) is important for faster and effective deployment of such systems and of the innovative services they offer. For this purpose, in this paper an agent-based model is developed, where the electricity consumer behaviour due to different smart metering policies is simulated. Consumers are modelled as household agents having dynamic preferences on types of electricity contracts offered by the supplier. Development of preferences depends on personal values, memory and attitudes, as well as the degree of interaction in a social network structure. We are interested in exploring possible diffusion rates of smart metering enabled services under different policy interventions and the impact of this technological diffusion on individual and societal performance indicators. In four simulation experiments and three intervention policies we observe the diffusion of energy services and individual and societal performance indicators (electricity savings, CO2 emissions savings, social welfare, consumers’ comfort change), as well as consumers’ satisfaction. From these results and based on expert validation, we conclude that providing the consumer with more options does not necessarily lead to higher consumer’s satisfaction, or better societal performance. A good policy should be centred on effective ways to tackle consumers concerns.Energy & Industr