Clustering-based methodology for optimal residential time of use design structure

A price responsive demand (PRD) market has been perceived as the future of electricity markets with the capability of achieving economic benefits. It lays the foundation of demand response at the customer level. Time of use structures have been implemented widely to achieve load reshaping. This paper introduces a clustering based methodology for obtaining optimal time of use structures (optimal number of levels and rate durations) based on historical load profiles and real-time prices. The study takes into account variation in weekday and weekend load profiles and also seasonal variations. A new hybrid policy that bridges the gap between seasonal time-of-use and critical peak pricing has been proposed.