Investigating the impact of demand side management on residential customers

With the advent of smart meters and smart appliances, residential demand side management (DSM) schemes could potentially happen on a considerably larger scale. From the Distribution Network Operator perspective, intelligent control of appliances could help reduce peaks in demand and thus defer reinforcements of the low-voltage (LV) network. For the consumer, in a scenario where dynamic pricing is in place, peak reduction might also provide another strategy to reduce energy costs. However, the successful implementation of these techniques is contingent on the willingness of residential consumers to accept them. This, in turn, depends on the negative effects that this control might have on the consumers' comfort and convenience. This paper investigates the impact of a DSM scheme that shifts residential high-power appliances (loads) to reduce the overall peak of households connected to the same LV feeder. Simulations are run using high-resolution historical data for Central-East England. Results are encouraging; showing not only that the proposed DSM scheme has great potential for peak reduction, but, more importantly, that the negative impact on the consumers is minimal. These findings could be used to promote such schemes and increase public acceptance. © 2011 IEEE.