Overview of ARRA-Funded SGIG Consumer Behavior Studies Peter Cappers (LBNL) A National Town Meeting on Demand Response and Smart Grid July 11, LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis

Overview of SGIG Consumer Behavior Studies DOE Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) was released in June 2009 – Goal: Provide more definitive answers to policymakers responsible for modernizing the country’s electricity infrastructure, in part by funding studies/pilots FOA stated ideal approach for conducting funded consumer behavior studies: – Focus on highly dynamic pricing tariffs (i.e., RTP, CPP) – Random assignment of start date for customers to be exposed mandatorily to dynamic pricing as default rate design – Customers remain on such rates for at least two (2) years – Requirement to deliver highly granular customer-level data for subsequent DOE cross-project analysis 2LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis

Enrollment Approach Used in Studies All 11 utility studies include some form of opt- in enrollment approach 3 studies augment this with an opt- out enrollment approach LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis3

Rate Treatments Included in Studies (2) 8 studies implementing CPP; 6 of them have a CPP overlaid on a TOU 1 study looking at both CPP & CPR 2 studies using different forms of VPP LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis4

Non-Rate Treatments Included in Studies 3 studies included both In Home Displays (IHDs) and Programmable Communicating Thermostats (PCTs) 2 studies developed an education curriculum LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis5

SGIG Consumer Behavior Study Schedule LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis6

Overview of Recruitment Effort Opt-in recruitment rates 5-28% Opt-out recruitment rates 78-87% Only able to discern what caused differences in recruitment rates for handful of experimentally controlled offers LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis7

Impact of Different Time-Based Rate Offerings Under Opt-Out and Opt-In Only a single utility study included more than one opt-out time-based rate program offering to a group of randomly assigned customers LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis8

Lesson Learned: Value of Test Marketing Many utilities believed words like “critical”, “emergency”, “auto” and “events” would help to induce participation in these types of rates Instead, focus groups and other research efforts showed such terms were construed as reactionary Customers were more willing to take up offers that included terms like “control”, “choice” and “sense” Utilities found focus groups, surveys and other tools to be vital components for test marketing terms and concepts to attract customer interest and engage them to participate in the rate being offered LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis9

Lesson Learned: Everyone’s Job Is Customer Service Many utilities presumed the internal utility workers and external contractors used to install and provision equipment at a customer’s home would have no impact on the enrollment process Instead, many installers didn’t sufficiently appreciate their public relations role and so negatively impacted customer engagement efforts Utilities realized the need to ensure that all utility representatives and contractors that interact with customers at any level are informed, committed and enabled to make the experience a positive one for the customer LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis10

Major Deliverables LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis11 Policy Topic DOE & LBNL Report Utility Reports Customer Response  Customer Acceptance  Customer Retention  Bill Impacts  Due DateQ & Q Q2 2013Q

Questions/Comments Peter Cappers (315) LBNL – Smart Grid Investment Grant Consumer Behavior Study Analysis12