Behavioural aspects of smart meters: socio-economic issues
Date
2015
Authors
Baddeley, M.
Editors
Liu, C.C.
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Book chapter
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Source details - Title: Smart grid handbook, 2015 / Liu, C.C. (ed./s), Ch.89, pp.1-11
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Abstract
This chapter outlines some of the economic and behavioral considerations that affect the use and uptake of smart metering technologies. In standard economic terms, smart meters (SMs) have the potential to enable better matching of supply and demand, enabling real-time and more efficient pricing. They also have additional benefits explicable using key insights from behavioral economics. If SMs are designed to take account of common heuristics, that is, quick decision-making rules, and decision-making biases, then their net benefit will be significantly increased. The behavioral factors that are likely to be most significant for SMs include status quo and familiarity biases, anchoring and adjustment around reference points, social influences, and present bias/short-termism. This chapter explores the potential for SMs to effectively enable household energy saving – for example, by providing a tool for setting default options, allowing more frequent and accurate real-time energy use data for householders, conveying social information and/or improving information flows, and enabling householders to switch suppliers more easily. SMs have the potential to offer new services in the future too, for example – reducing fuel poverty by enabling prepayment customers to manage their energy payments more easily.
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Copyright 2016 2016 John Wiley & Sons