Evaluating the customers´ benefits of hourly pricing based on day-ahead spot market

From October 2012, electricity customers in Sweden have the possibility to pay their electricity consumption based on the hourly spot prices on the day-ahead electricity market, Nordpool spot. Customers will know the electricity prices 12-36 hours in advance and will have the possibility to schedule their electricity usage in order to reduce their cost of electricity. This paper investigates the potential cost savings that could be achieved for different customers by adapting to the hourly pricing scheme. The savings could be attributed to different electrical appliances such as electric heaters, dishwashers and laundry machines. A case study on a number of selected residential customers has been carried out. The study results show that the economic incentives to reschedule loads based on the hourly tariff will be limited for customers without electric heating. Even for customers with electric heating, the economic incentives may be too small to adapt to this hourly tariff.