IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2017 - 54

Despite the importance of consumers in a more flexible energy
system, only a small part of current energy research has so far
focused on this issue; moreover, most of this research is conducted in monodisciplinary settings. Yet consumers' flexibility
involves many different elements that are best represented and
investigated using an interdisciplinary approach.
This article focuses on the role of consumers in a flexible
energy system from an interdisciplinary point of view.
✔✔ What is the consumer's role in a flexible energy system?
✔✔ How can consumers' behavior be changed?
✔✔ What barriers are there for change?
✔✔ What influences consumers' investment in flexibilityenhancing technologies?
✔✔ How can policies and market design be used to stimulate flexible behavior?
In addition, we briefly discuss the public acceptance of
energy infrastructure, an important precondition for any
flexible energy system. We conclude with some remarks on
how research on consumer behavior could be better integrated into energy research more generally.

The Consumer's Role in
a Flexible Energy System
An increase in variable renewables (e.g., wind and solar
photovoltaic) in the energy system means that energy supply fluctuates more; without flexible demand, supply will
most likely require additional storage and capacity in the
system. However, consumers can improve the flexibility of
the energy system by playing a more active role in both the
demand for and supply of energy.
When talking about consumers' energy-using behavior,
researchers distinguish between curtailment behavior and
efficiency behavior; both facilitate the flexibility of the energy
system. Curtailment behavior refers to energy-using activities
that typically occur on a frequent basis-such as showering,
changing thermostat settings, and switching on/off lights or
appliances-and is therefore much more linked to habitual
and occupancy behaviors. To enhance the flexibility of the
energy system, changing consumers' curtailment behavior is
mainly linked to load shifting and energy-demand reduction.
Efficiency behavior refers to investment in energy-efficient
solutions, such as insulation, heat pumps, and electric vehicles, and it includes the adoption of technologies that facilitate curtailment behavior change, such as smart meters and
smart appliances. Efficiency behavior involves the adoption of
new technologies and investments leading to energy-efficient
actions and measures that will have a longer-lasting impact.
Consumers also increasingly play a role in improving the
flexibility of the energy supply. This is why they are sometimes referred to as prosumers, which means that they are both
"consumers" and "producers," or active agents on the supply
side. This new role involves new types of relevant consumer
behaviors: generation of one's own energy, for example. Prosumers can provide flexibility to centralized energy generation
through their decisions on whether to sell their energy back to
54

ieee power & energy magazine

the grid, store it, or consume it themselves (self-consumption).
Flexibility is also provided when consumers allow automated
control over their appliances, implying that third parties align
their energy use with the supply and demand on the grid.
The increasing share of variable renewables, such as solar
and wind energy, associated with the requirement for flexibility also introduces new challenges in terms of major infrastructure changes such as the building of wind farms, pylons,
and transmission lines. A major factor, and often a barrier, in
these transitions is public acceptance. Hence, a discussion
of the contribution of consumers to flexibility would not be
complete without reference to the issue of public acceptance,
so this topic is included here as well.

Changing Consumers' Energy Behavior:
Load Shift and Demand Reduction
Demand Response
Consumer flexibility is needed in terms of both shifting
energy demand to times of the day when (renewable) energy
is available and also reducing energy demand when the supply of energy is limited. Demand-side management (DSM)
is the term used to describe a range of measures for improving the efficiency and flexibility of energy demand from the
consumer side. Demand-response (DR) measures are a part
of DSM programs; they are designed to encourage consumers to change their energy consumption. Some of these DR
programs rely on changes in curtailment behavior-that is,
consumers need to change their behavior based on alerts
or real-time information. This is problematic because it
requires considerable effort on the part of consumers: they
need to pay attention to the information, decide on appropriate actions, and ultimately undertake those actions. A basic
assumption here is that consumers have the knowledge to
take appropriate actions, which often may not be the case.
In fact, there have been reports of tension in households as a
result of members having different views about how best to
change their energy consumption. As a result, the effects of
DR programs on consumers' load shifting and energy consumption fluctuate and may be fairly limited.
To overcome these problems, future DR programs are likely
to be designed to include a significant share of direct load
control (DLC) by energy providers. DLC allows appliances
whose time of use is not critical within reasonably narrow time
periods (such as refrigerators, air conditioners, water heaters,
and pumps) to be switched off or have their energy reduced
remotely by suppliers at times of peak demand. Although DLC
is likely to increase load shifting and reduce energy demand,
consumers are often reluctant to accept automated control
over their energy use. Surveys show that fewer than a third of
consumers use time-of-use (ToU) controlling functions or are
willing to accept contractual arrangements that allow utilities
to directly control appliances to deliver load shedding. This
reluctance is very much based on the fear of losing control
over one's own energy consumption, use of appliances, and
january/february 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2017