IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rff/dpaper/dp-21-20.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Smart Thermostats, Automation, and Time-Varying Prices

Author

Listed:
  • Blonz, Joshua
  • Palmer, Karen

    (Resources for the Future)

  • Wichman, Casey

    (Resources for the Future)

  • Wietelman, Derek C.

Abstract

Can automation complement economic incentives? We explore this question by randomly encouraging households to activate a feature on their existing smart thermostat that automates responsiveness to time-of-use electricity pricing. The feature reduces air-conditioning use during the highest-priced afternoon period, raising indoor temperatures above a household’s preferred temperature, primarily for customers who are typically home during the day. Customers infrequently override the feature when they experience discomfort, suggesting that they are willing to trade off monetary savings for small increases in discomfort. Automation thus enables low-cost changes in household energy use, with potentially large electricity supply-cost reductions at scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Blonz, Joshua & Palmer, Karen & Wichman, Casey & Wietelman, Derek C., 2021. "Smart Thermostats, Automation, and Time-Varying Prices," RFF Working Paper Series 21-20, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-21-20
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rff.org/documents/3910/WP_21-20_April_2023_Update_May_1_VkrzXOU.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Faruqui, Ahmad & Sergici, Sanem & Lessem, Neil & Mountain, Dean, 2015. "Impact measurement of tariff changes when experimentation is not an option—A case study of Ontario, Canada," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(PA), pages 39-48.
    2. Severin Borenstein & Stephen Holland, 2005. "On the Efficiency of Competitive Electricity Markets with Time-Invariant Retail Prices," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(3), pages 469-493, Autumn.
    3. Meredith Fowlie & Michael Greenstone & Catherine Wolfram, 2018. "Do Energy Efficiency Investments Deliver? Evidence from the Weatherization Assistance Program," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1597-1644.
    4. Robert W. Hahn & Robert D. Metcalfe, 2021. "Efficiency and Equity Impacts of Energy Subsidies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(5), pages 1658-1688, May.
    5. Severin Borenstein, 2007. "Wealth Transfers Among Large Customers from Implementing Real-Time Retail Electricity Pricing," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 131-150.
    6. List John A., 2007. "Field Experiments: A Bridge between Lab and Naturally Occurring Data," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 1-47, April.
    7. Katrina Jessoe & David Rapson, 2014. "Knowledge Is (Less) Power: Experimental Evidence from Residential Energy Use," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(4), pages 1417-1438, April.
    8. 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.
    9. James M. Sallee, 2014. "Rational Inattention and Energy Efficiency," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(3), pages 781-820.
    10. James Bushnell & Kevin Novan, 2021. "Setting with the Sun: The Impacts of Renewable Energy on Conventional Generation," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(4), pages 759-796.
    11. Alec Brandon & Christopher Clapp & John List & Robert Metcalfe & Michael Price, 2022. "The Human Perils of Scaling Smart Technologies: Evidence from Field Experiments," Framed Field Experiments 00762, The Field Experiments Website.
    12. Brian C. Prest, 2020. "Peaking Interest: How Awareness Drives the Effectiveness of Time-of-Use Electricity Pricing," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(1), pages 103-143.
    13. Meredith Fowlie & Catherine Wolfram & Patrick Baylis & C Anna Spurlock & Annika Todd-Blick & Peter Cappers, 2021. "Default Effects And Follow-On Behaviour: Evidence From An Electricity Pricing Program [The Impact of Presumed Consent Legislation on Cadaveric Oorgan Donation: A Cross-country Study”]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(6), pages 2886-2934.
    14. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9-10), pages 1082-1095, October.
    15. Hunt Allcott & Todd Rogers, 2014. "The Short-Run and Long-Run Effects of Behavioral Interventions: Experimental Evidence from Energy Conservation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3003-3037, October.
    16. Joshua A. Blonz, 2022. "Making the Best of the Second-Best: Welfare Consequences of Time-Varying Electricity Prices," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(6), pages 1087-1126.
    17. Matthew Harding & Carlos Lamarche, 2016. "Empowering Consumers Through Data and Smart Technology: Experimental Evidence on the Consequences of Time‐of‐Use Electricity Pricing Policies," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(4), pages 906-931, September.
    18. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9), pages 1082-1095.
    19. Bryan K. Bollinger & Wesley R. Hartmann, 2020. "Information vs. Automation and Implications for Dynamic Pricing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(1), pages 290-314, January.
    20. Matthew Harding & Steven Sexton, 2017. "Household Response to Time-Varying Electricity Prices," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 337-359, October.
    21. Matthew Harding & Steven Sexton, 2017. "Household Response to Time-Varying Electricity Prices," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 337-359, October.
    22. Jesse Burkhardt & Kenneth Gillingham & Praveen K. Kopalle, 2019. "Experimental Evidence on the Effect of Information and Pricing on Residential Electricity Consumption," NBER Working Papers 25576, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Paul L. Joskow & Catherine D. Wolfram, 2012. "Dynamic Pricing of Electricity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 381-385, May.
    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. Fabra, Natalia, 2021. "The energy transition: An industrial economics perspective," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    2. Harding, Matthew & Kettler, Kyle & Lamarche, Carlos & Ma, Lala, 2023. "The (alleged) environmental and social benefits of dynamic pricing," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 574-593.
    3. Kayo Murakami & Hideki Shimada & Yoshiaki Ushifusa & Takanori Ida, 2022. "Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Of Nudge And Rebate: Causal Machine Learning In A Field Experiment On Electricity Conservation," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1779-1803, November.
    4. 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.
    5. Takanori Ida, Kayo Murakami, and Makoto Tanaka, 2016. "Electricity demand response in Japan: Experimental evidence from a residential photovoltaic power-generation system," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    6. Garnache, Cloé & Hernaes, Øystein & Imenes, Anders Gravir, 2022. "Which Households Respond to Electricity Peak Pricing amid High Levels of Electrification?," IZA Discussion Papers 15194, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Singhal, Puja & Pahle, Michael & Kalkuhl, Matthias & Levesque, Antoine & Sommer, Stephan & Berneiser, Jessica, 2022. "Beyond good faith: Why evidence-based policy is necessary to decarbonize buildings cost-effectively in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    8. Uddin, Main & Wang, Liang Choon & Smyth, Russell, 2021. "Do government-initiated energy comparison sites encourage consumer search and lower prices? Evidence from an online randomized controlled experiment in Australia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 167-182.
    9. Harding, Matthew & Lamarche, Carlos, 2019. "A panel quantile approach to attrition bias in Big Data: Evidence from a randomized experiment," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 211(1), pages 61-82.
    10. John A. List & Robert D. Metcalfe & Michael K. Price & Florian Rundhammer, 2017. "Harnessing Policy Complementarities to Conserve Energy: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 23355, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Palmer, Karen & Walls, Margaret, 2015. "Does Information Provision Shrink the Energy Efficiency Gap? A Cross-City Comparison of Commercial Building Benchmarking and Disclosure Laws," RFF Working Paper Series dp-15-12, Resources for the Future.
    12. Leslie A. Martin, 2022. "Driving on Sunbeams: Interactions Between Price Incentives for Electric Vehicles, Residential Solar Photovoltaics and Household Battery Systems," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 41(4), pages 369-384, December.
    13. Goette, Lorenz & Tiefenbeck, Verena & Degen, Kathrin & Fleisch, Elgar & Tasic, Vojkan & Lalive, Rafael & Staake, Thorsten, 2016. "Overcoming Salience Bias: How Real-Time Feedback Fosters Resource Conservation," CEPR Discussion Papers 11480, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins & Robert C. Stowe, 2015. "An Assessment of the Energy-Efficiency Gap and its Implications for Climate-Change Policy," NBER Working Papers 20905, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Jesse Burkhardt & Kenneth Gillingham & Praveen K. Kopalle, 2019. "Experimental Evidence on the Effect of Information and Pricing on Residential Electricity Consumption," NBER Working Papers 25576, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. 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).
    17. Takanori Ida & Kayo Murakami & Makoto Tanaka, 2015. "Electricity demand response in Japan:Experimental evidence from a residential photovoltaic generation system," Discussion papers e-15-006, Graduate School of Economics Project Center, Kyoto University.
    18. Giraudet, Louis-Gaëtan, 2020. "Energy efficiency as a credence good: A review of informational barriers to energy savings in the building sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    19. Verena Tiefenbeck & Lorenz Goette & Kathrin Degen & Vojkan Tasic & Elgar Fleisch & Rafael Lalive & Thorsten Staake, 2018. "Overcoming Salience Bias: How Real-Time Feedback Fosters Resource Conservation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(3), pages 1458-1476, March.
    20. Jacobsen, Grant D. & Stewart, James I., 2022. "How do consumers respond to price complexity? Experimental evidence from the power sector," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).

    More about this item

    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:rff:dpaper:dp-21-20. 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: Resources for the Future (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rffffus.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.