Nudging electricity consumption using TOU pricing and feedback : evidence from Irish households

This paper analyses the electricity usage of 5,000 Irish residential consumers in response to the introduction of TOU tariffs and three different forms of financial feedback: immediate feedback from in-home displays (IHD), monthly billing and bimonthly billing. Halfhourly data on consumption collected during the trial indicated that TOU tariffs reduced consumption at peak, with some reductions lasting beyond the end of the peak period and post-peak spikes in usage were not observed. IHD feedback resulted in the most reliable reductions and bimonthly billing the least. Households with greater education used the information associated to the TOU tariffs slightly better than the average.