How we pay for electricity has important implications for our bills, as well as for the costs of the electric system. Most people pay a flat rate, essentially one price per unit of electricity (or kWh) they consume, regardless of when they consume it. However, because the cost of generating and delivering electricity varies throughout the day, having varying prices over the course of the day creates an important and actionable signal: use less electricity during high-priced and high-cost times; use more of it when it’s cheaper. This helps keep costs down in the long run and allows customers to save money by shifting their consumption to low cost times.
Yet there is some evidence that certain communities may be disadvantaged under this type of pricing structure; thus, we must identify and implement policy solutions to address this misalignment.
New study highlights inequities
A new study by Lee White and Nicole Sintov published in Nature Energy highlights some of these challenges. They looked at a pilot study in a southwestern electric utility that implemented time-of-use (TOU) tariffs (with a high cost peak period and a low cost off-peak period). White and Sintov gathered data from participants, including Hispanic, low income, elderly, and those with disabilities, and found some areas for concern.
For example, they find that the elderly and customers with disabilities saw greater increases in bills on TOU than their non-vulnerable counterparts, likely due to a reduced ability to shift their consumption to cheaper, off-peak times.
They also find that some of these customers who faced smaller bill increases, likely due to underlying preferable load profiles, faced either worse health outcomes (this was true for Hispanic households), or more discomfort than others (true for low income households).
Low-income and Hispanic households reported turning off AC more often than their non-vulnerable counterparts, but did not have a greater reduction in on-peak use. These households appear to have made a much more extreme sacrifice to achieve the same level of peak time reduction achieved by other pilot participants without negative health and comfort impacts.
It is likely that these potential negative health and comfort outcomes of TOU rates are exacerbated by the stock of older, less efficient appliances and leaky homes, common in low-income households. When households have to rely on less efficient appliances, it is harder for them to shift the timing of their cooling to cheaper hours of the day; many have to turn off the A/C altogether, leading to severe discomfort. Furthermore, when the house is leaky, any efforts to pre-cool the home during cheap times will not result in comfortable indoor temperatures during costly times of day.
Policy solutions can make TOU rates work for everyone
So we face a dilemma: TOU rates can help improve the system, and could help all customers reduce their bills, but achieving these benefits with old appliances and leaky homes is a major challenge. How can we maximize the benefits of implementing TOU rates while ensuring that all communities can participate?
Fortunately, policy solutions exist that can help level the playing field.
- Bill protection: Utilities can implement bill protection, whereby customers will not face bill increases under a TOU rate for a limited period of time. This allows customers to benefit if they are able, but will not harm those who find themselves unable to adequately shift consumption. In California, for example, Southern California Edison provides a full year of bill protection for customers transitioning to TOU rates.
- Programs to help with weatherization and appliance upgrades: Programs like the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) target less affluent customers and can provide assistance with either weatherization or efficiency improvements in appliances.
- Robust marketing, education and outreach (MEO): Ensuring electric customers understand what rate they are on, and how changes in consumption can help them achieve lower bills is key to maximizing the benefits of TOU rates. This requires significant marketing, education and outreach. For customers who may face language or information barriers, the need for targeted MEO is even more pronounced.
- Ensure that TOU rates are actionable: For TOU rates to be most effective at reducing consumption during peak hours, the ratio of peak to off-peak prices needs to be significant, and the length of the peak hours manageable. This provides ample space for customers to shift away from peak times and benefit from a greater number of low cost hours.
- Allow TOU rates to be opt–out: Mandating TOU for all customers can exacerbate these disparities, especially among those who face challenges in responding to the time differences. Many low-income customers rent rather than own their homes, making it more difficult to invest in home weatherization or energy efficient appliances, two strategies that can make TOU rates easier to respond to. Allowing customers to opt out provides an important option to ensure equitable outcomes from more advanced electricity pricing, particularly for low-income renters. California utilities currently implement all TOU rates as opt-out.
TOU rates can provide many benefits to society and the environment, and could help put money back in the pockets of low-income and elderly customers. However, in order to avoid any negative consequences due to inefficient appliances and leaky homes, we will need to take extra measures outside of rate setting itself.