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BeSmart seeks incentives to make dynamic electricity tariffs more attractive
Image: West wind.Dynamic electricity prices and smart grids are essential for the transformation to CO2-neutral power generation. This is because the integration of volatile power generation from wind and solar energy makes it necessary for electricity consumers to adjust their consumption to the highly variable supply of electricity over time. Price signals can achieve this necessary adjustment of consumption. Among economists, dynamic prices have therefore long been regarded as efficient and purposeful in the energy transition, but they have hardly been implemented in practice so far because the necessary infrastructure was not in place.
With the planned or already taking place market introduction of so-called smart meters in many electricity markets worldwide, the implementation of time-variable electricity tariffs will theoretically be possible in the near future.
A key obstacle to such tariffs is seen as the possible lack of consumer acceptance. Rejection of dynamic tariffs can be influenced by many factors, especially psychological ones, potentially leading to distorted cost-benefit trade-offs and inefficient tariff decisions. BeSmart aims to identify factors influencing tariff decisions and to develop economic as well as legal solutions that increase the acceptance of dynamic pricing models. In this way, BeSmart contributes to raising the efficiency potential of dynamic electricity pricing models in view of the challenges posed by the system integration of wind and solar power in many electricity markets. To this end, the project brings together a team of energy, behavioral, experimental, and legal economists.
The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under the funding priority "Economics of Climate Change II". Project duration is from November 2018 to October 2021, with a budget of approximately 607,000 euros for the University of Kassel.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Heike Wetzel
University of Kassel
Department of Economics with focus on
decentralized energy economy
Tel.: +49 561 804-7750
E-Mail: heike.wetzel[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
Prof. Dr. Georg von Wangenheim
University of Kassel
Department of Fundamentals of Law, Private Law and Economics of Civil Law)
Tel.: +49 561 804-1946
E-mail: g.wangenheim[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
Prof. Dr. Andreas Ziegler
University of Kassel
Department of Empirical Economic Research
Tel.: +49 561 804-3038
E-mail: andreas.ziegler[at]uni-kassel[dot]de