A residential consumer-centered load control strategy in real-time electricity pricing environment

To residential customers, an existing monthly static electricity rate does not provide the true cost signals of electricity during their actual consumptions. When electricity supply is deficient, consumers have no motivation to reduce their electricity consumptions if their electric bills are not affected by the dynamic price changes. The US Government perceives the necessity of the demand response from residential consumers as stated in the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) 2005 Sections 1252 (a) (14) (A), 1252 (a) (14) (B), and 1252 (f). It is anticipated that more forthcoming infrastructures to support the demand response for residential customers will be implemented accordingly. Our research focuses on the control strategies of major loads such as air conditioner/heater and water heater since these loads together approximately account for the highest total residential electricity energy consumption. The results of the proposed strategy will be demonstrated in the MATLAB simulations using the pseudo real-time pricing of ERCOT and actual outdoor temperature data. The advantage of the proposed control strategy is its ability to effectively balance both user comfort and consumer price preferences. Particularly, this strategy is customer-centered, unlike the utility-centered in direct load control perspective, yet effective and simple enough for a real-life use of residential consumers.