Nudging electricity consumption using TOU pricing and feedback: evidence from Irish households

- We examine the response to a change in the electricity tariffs and information.
- We use data from a randomized experiment which involved 5000 residential consumers.
- Households reduce consumption of electricity during the most congested hours.
- The consumption of electricity is not shifted to other hours.
- Highly educated people are more responsive than the average.

This paper analyses the electricity usage of 5000 Irish residential consumers in response to the introduction of Time Of Use (TOU) tariffs and three different forms of financial feedback: immediate feedback from in-home displays (IHD), monthly billing and bimonthly billing. Half-hourly data on consumption collected during the trial indicated that TOU tariffs reduced consumption at peak, with some reductions lasting beyond the end of the peak period and post-peak spikes in usage were not observed. IHD feedback resulted in the most reliable reductions and bimonthly billing the least. Moreover, consumers slightly increase the electricity usage during the first hours of the night and early in the morning. Households with greater education react to the information associated to the TOU tariffs slightly more than the average.