Comparison of Priority Service with Multilevel Demand Subscription

Priority service and multilevel demand subscription have been proposed as two alternative methods for the mobilization of residential demand response. Whereas priority service relies on the differentiation of electricity service according to reliability, multilevel demand subscription further differentiates electricity service according to duration. Despite its increased complexity, multilevel demand subscription promises increased operational efficiency, as it permits a finer differentiation of consumer classes by the utility. It also allows households to reduce their electricity bills relative to priority service. This paper proposes a framework for quantifying these effects. We design a modeling approach for evaluating the performance of these different aggregator service offerings in a system with utility-scale renewable supply, residential renewable supply, and residential storage. We compare priority service to multilevel demand subscription, and discuss the implications of these different residential demand response options on operational efficiency and consumer expenditures for electricity service on a realistic model of the Belgian power market. We show how the comparison between the two schemes is affected by the adoption of a different time resolution in a detailed case study.