IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fem/femwpa/2011.36.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Smart Meter Devices and The Effect of Feedback on Residential Electricity Consumption: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Northern Ireland

Author

Listed:
  • Will Gans

    (AREC, University of Maryland)

  • Anna Alberini

    (AREC, University of Maryland and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei)

  • Alberto Longo

    (Gibson Institute for Land Food and Environment, UKCRC Centre of Excellence for Public Health (NI), School of Biological Sciences, Queen‘s University)

Abstract

Using a unique set of data and exploiting a large-scale natural experiment, we estimate the effect of real-time usage information on residential electricity consumption in Northern Ireland. Starting in April 2002, the utility replaced prepayment meters with “smart” meters that allow the consumer to track usage in real-time. We rely on this event, account for the endogeneity of price and plan with consumption through a plan selection correction term, and find that the provision of information is associated with a decline in electricity consumption of up to 20%. We find that the reduction is robust to different specifications, selection-bias correction methods and subsamples of the original data. At £15-17 per tonne of CO2e (2009£), the smart meter program delivers cost-effective reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Will Gans & Anna Alberini & Alberto Longo, 2011. "Smart Meter Devices and The Effect of Feedback on Residential Electricity Consumption: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Northern Ireland," Working Papers 2011.36, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    • Handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.36
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://feem-media.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/NDL2011-036.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mansur, Erin T. & Mendelsohn, Robert & Morrison, Wendy, 2008. "Climate change adaptation: A study of fuel choice and consumption in the US energy sector," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 175-193, March.
    2. François Bourguignon & Martin Fournier & Marc Gurgand, 2007. "Selection Bias Corrections Based On The Multinomial Logit Model: Monte Carlo Comparisons," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 174-205, February.
    3. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    4. Gans, Will & Alberini, Anna & Longo, Alberto, 2013. "Smart meter devices and the effect of feedback on residential electricity consumption: Evidence from a natural experiment in Northern Ireland," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 729-743.
    5. David S. Loughran and Jonathan Kulick, 2004. "Demand-Side Management and Energy Efficiency in the United States," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 19-44.
    6. Michael D. Grubb, 2009. "Selling to Overconfident Consumers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(5), pages 1770-1807, December.
    7. O'Doherty, Joe & Lyons, Sean & Tol, Richard S.J., 2008. "Energy-using appliances and energy-saving features: Determinants of ownership in Ireland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(7), pages 650-662, July.
    8. Brutscher, P., 2011. "Payment Matters? - An Exploratory Study into the Pre-Payment Electricity Metering," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1124, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    9. Lee, Lung-Fei, 1983. "Generalized Econometric Models with Selectivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(2), pages 507-512, March.
    10. Shin, Jeong-Shik, 1985. "Perception of Price When Price Information Is Costly: Evidence from Residential Electricity Demand," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(4), pages 591-598, November.
    11. Halvorsen, Bente & Larsen, Bodil M., 2001. "The flexibility of household electricity demand over time," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-18, January.
    12. Stefano DellaVigna & Ulrike Malmendier, 2006. "Paying Not to Go to the Gym," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 694-719, June.
    13. Philipp-Bastian Brutscher, 2011. "Payment Matters? – An Exploratory Study into Pre-Payment Electricity Metering," Working Papers EPRG 1108, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    14. -, 2009. "The economics of climate change," Sede Subregional de la CEPAL para el Caribe (Estudios e Investigaciones) 38679, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    15. Hassett, Kevin A. & Metcalf, Gilbert E., 1993. "Energy conservation investment : Do consumers discount the future correctly?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 710-716, June.
    16. Gilbert E. Metcalf & Donald Rosenthal, 1995. "The “new” view of investment decisions and public policy analysis: An application to green lights and cold refrigerators," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 517-531.
    17. Gordon B. Dahl, 2002. "Mobility and the Return to Education: Testing a Roy Model with Multiple Markets," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(6), pages 2367-2420, November.
    18. Meier, Helena & Rehdanz, Katrin, 2010. "Determinants of residential space heating expenditures in Great Britain," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 949-959, September.
    19. Dubin, Jeffrey A & McFadden, Daniel L, 1984. "An Econometric Analysis of Residential Electric Appliance Holdings and Consumption," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 345-362, March.
    20. Faruqui, Ahmad & Sergici, Sanem & Sharif, Ahmed, 2010. "The impact of informational feedback on energy consumption—A survey of the experimental evidence," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 1598-1608.
    21. Deaton, Angus, 1985. "Panel data from time series of cross-sections," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1-2), pages 109-126.
    22. Isamu Matsukawa, 2005. "The Benefits of Information on the Efficient Usage of Consumer Durables," Others 0501005, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9-10), pages 1082-1095, October.
    24. Francis Vella, 1998. "Estimating Models with Sample Selection Bias: A Survey," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 33(1), pages 127-169.
    25. Dulleck, Uwe & Kaufmann, Sylvia, 2004. "Do customer information programs reduce household electricity demand?--the Irish program," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1025-1032, June.
    26. Michael L. Nieswiadomy & David J. Molina, 1989. "Comparing Residential Water Demand Estimates under Decreasing and Increasing Block Rates Using Household Data," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 65(3), pages 280-289.
    27. Bernard, Jean-Thomas & Bolduc, Denis & Yameogo, Nadège-Désirée, 2011. "A pseudo-panel data model of household electricity demand," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 315-325, January.
    28. Lijesen, Mark G., 2007. "The real-time price elasticity of electricity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 249-258, March.
    29. Isamu Matsukawa, 2004. "The Effects of Information on Residential Demand for Electricity," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 1-18.
    30. Maximilian Auffhammer & Carl Blumstein & Meredith Fowlie, 2008. "Demand-Side Management and Energy Efficiency Revisited," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 91-104.
    31. Gordon Dahl, 1997. "Mobility and the Returns to Education: Testing A Roy Model With Multiple Markets," Working Papers 760, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    32. Faruqui, Ahmad & George, Stephen S., 2002. "The Value of Dynamic Pricing in Mass Markets," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 45-55, July.
    33. Edlefsen, Lee E, 1981. "The Comparative Statics of Hedonic Price Functions and Other Nonlinear Constraints," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1501-1520, November.
    34. Frank A. Wolak, 2011. "Do Residential Customers Respond to Hourly Prices? Evidence from a Dynamic Pricing Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 83-87, May.
    35. Wei, Max & Patadia, Shana & Kammen, Daniel M., 2010. "Putting renewables and energy efficiency to work: How many jobs can the clean energy industry generate in the US?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 919-931, February.
    36. Hartman, Raymond S, 1988. "Self-Selection Bias in the Evaluation of Voluntary Energy Conservation Programs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(3), pages 448-458, August.
    37. Ian Ayres & Sophie Raseman & Alice Shih, 2009. "Evidence from Two Large Field Experiments that Peer Comparison Feedback Can Reduce Residential Energy Usage," NBER Working Papers 15386, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    38. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9), pages 1082-1095.
    39. Gans, Will & Alberini, Anna & Longo, Alberto, 2011. "Smart Meter Devices and The Effect of Feedback on Residential Electricity Consumption: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Northern Ireland," Energy: Resources and Markets 108202, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Iztok Podbregar & Sanja Filipović & Mirjana Radovanović & Olga Mirković Isaeva & Polona Šprajc, 2021. "Electricity Prices and Consumer Behavior, Case Study Serbia—Randomized Control Trials Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-12, January.
    2. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2017. "Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1486-1525, December.
    3. Alberini, Anna & Towe, Charles, 2015. "Information v. energy efficiency incentives: Evidence from residential electricity consumption in Maryland," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(S1), pages 30-40.
    4. Kenneth Gillingham & Karen Palmer, 2014. "Bridging the Energy Efficiency Gap: Policy Insights from Economic Theory and Empirical Evidence," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 8(1), pages 18-38, January.
    5. Daniel A. Brent, 2016. "Estimating Water Demand Elasticity at the Intensive and Extensive Margin," Departmental Working Papers 2016-06, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    6. Du, Limin & Guo, Jin & Wei, Chu, 2017. "Impact of information feedback on residential electricity demand in China," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 324-334.
    7. Damette, Olivier & Delacote, Philippe & Lo, Gaye Del, 2018. "Households energy consumption and transition toward cleaner energy sources," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 751-764.
    8. Papineau, Maya, 2017. "Setting the standard? A framework for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of building energy standards," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 63-76.
    9. By Barbara Mueller & Jürg Schweri, 2015. "How specific is apprenticeship training? Evidence from inter-firm and occupational mobility after graduation," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(4), pages 1057-1077.
    10. McFadden, Jonathan & Miranowski, John, "undated". "Climate Change Impacts on the Intensive and Extensive Margins of US Agricultural Land," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170512, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. McFadden, Jonathan R., 2015. "Essays on climate change adaptation and biotechnologies in U.S. agriculture," ISU General Staff Papers 201501010800005635, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    12. Manuel Frondel and Gerhard Kussel, 2019. "Switching on Electricity Demand Response: Evidence for German Households," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 5).
    13. Boogen, Nina & Datta, Souvik & Filippini, Massimo, 2017. "Demand-side management by electric utilities in Switzerland: Analyzing its impact on residential electricity demand," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 402-414.
    14. Larue, B. & Gonzalez, P. & Kempa Nangue, C., 2018. "Endogenous Market Structure and Trade," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275922, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Alberini, Anna & Bezhanishvili, Levan & Ščasný, Milan, 2022. "“Wild” tariff schemes: Evidence from the Republic of Georgia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    16. Mizobuchi, Kenichi & Takeuchi, Kenji, 2013. "The influences of financial and non-financial factors on energy-saving behaviour: A field experiment in Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 775-787.
    17. Akito Ozawa & Ryota Furusato & Yoshikuni Yoshida, 2017. "Tailor-Made Feedback to Reduce Residential Electricity Consumption: The Effect of Information on Household Lifestyle in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-23, March.
    18. Sergi Jiménez-Martín & Cristina Prieto, 2012. "The trade-off between formal and informal care in Spain," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 13(4), pages 461-490, August.
    19. Asmare, Fissha & Jaraitė, Jūratė & Kažukauskas, Andrius, 2021. "The effect of descriptive information provision on electricity consumption: Experimental evidence from Lithuania," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    20. Schleich, Joachim & Faure, Corinne & Klobasa, Marian, 2017. "Persistence of the effects of providing feedback alongside smart metering devices on household electricity demand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 225-233.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Residential Energy; Electricity Demand; Feedback; Smart Meter; Information;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2011.36. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Alberto Prina Cerai (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feemmit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.