Shifting behavior, shaping grids: Appliance-level insights for targeted residential demand response

With the growing share of intermittent renewable energy generation, balancing supply and demand is becoming increasingly challenging, hindering net load leveling. In particular, sharp increases in residential electricity demand during the evening, when solar generation declines rapidly, lead to significant net load surges. Consequently, demand response (DR) programs have become increasingly important. While existing studies have focused on aggregate peak-load reduction, they often overlook the granular, appliance-level dynamics essential for effective load shifting. This study bridges this gap by leveraging comprehensive survey data that captures granular appliance-level usage and household preferences. We employ a twofold methodology: (1) we analyze appliance-specific usage patterns to quantify distinct load shifting and curtailment potentials, and (2) we estimate the heterogeneous minimum compensation required for participation, or Willingness-to-Accept (WTA), for specific DR actions at the appliance level. Our findings reveal significant differences in WTA and technical potential across appliances. Notably, dishwashers and dryers show high flexibility for temporal load shifting, whereas washing machines and rice cookers demonstrate greater potential for peak-time load curtailment. Furthermore, a simulation of Korea's existing DR program, using our empirical WTA and potential estimates, indicates that the current uniform compensation rate (1500 KRW/kWh or USD 1.03/kWh) inadvertently creates secondary peak loads. This study underscores the urgent need to redesign the compensation scheme and move toward appliance-differentiated and time-varying incentives to ensure power system stability.