Analysis of demand-side response preferences regarding electricity tariffs and direct load control: Key findings from a Swiss survey

Demand-side response (DSR), via price signals (e.g. tariffs) or via direct load control (DLC), is recognised as vital to the network operations with high levels of renewables. This study aims to measure the interest in electricity tariffs and acceptance of DLC, conducting a survey of 622 households and to identify the socio-demographic and dwelling characteristics associated with the decisions. Firstly, cluster analysis identified four DSR preferences: conservative (19%), reserved (20%), agreeable (34%) and flexible (27%). A multinomial logistic regression test showed that dwelling type, tenure, employment, and education influence DSR preferences. Secondly, ANOVA test showed that the interest in tariffs was significantly different across socio-demographics such as age, gender, and education level. Thirdly, we found that the acceptance of DLC is higher for devices (e.g. heat pumps, electric boilers, PV systems, home batteries) than appliances (e.g. tumble dryers, washing machines, dishwashers, EVs). Chi-square tests showed that employment status, presence of children, gender, age are significant factors for the acceptance of appliance DLC whereas it was dwelling type and education level for devices. These findings highlight the heterogeneity of DSR preferences, thereby pointing to challenges such as perceived control, and sociotechnical dynamics are key to achieve high participation in such programmes. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.