Environmental Engineering Reference
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practice” shapespatternsofenergyuse.Forexample, householdsize,market,andshopping
habits influenced by culture affect refrigerator size. Social habits shape how we build our
homes, heat and cool them, and furnish them with appliances and electronics which affect
electricity use. Commercial and industrial consumption also is shaped by conventions and
expectations. While these practices underlie energy demand and evolve and shift over
space and time, these cultural dimensions are often absent in discussions of smart grid.
Electricity use and the ability for consumers to participate in energy management is also
shaped by economic factors and family and gender dynamics. Detailed smart meter data
are allowing utilities to disaggregate energy use data and better understand how consumers
use energy. This information allows them to create detailed household energy profiles. For
example, a wealthy suburban family of six will have different energy use patterns than an
elderly couple living in an urban apartment. Household energy profiles can help utilities
target their communication and demand management approaches, although this profiling is
a privacy concern for some consumers.
Smart grid could increase the scope of consumer engagement with the electricity system
by allowing consumers to control their energy use and to produce electricity through
distributed generation like rooftop solar PV or combined heat and power systems. Smart
grid visionaries often talk about the emergence of the “prosumer,” integrating the
production of electricity with its consumption. Additionally, consumers could use
electricity in novel ways, such as by driving electric cars with the electrification of
transport.
In the United States, Canada, and most EU countries, overall annual electricity demand
has been relatively flat in recent years, although how energy is used is shifting. Consumers
use more energy in appliances, electronics, and lighting than they did twenty years ago.
Although electricity is powering more devices, from electric toothbrushes to smartphones,
electricity remains affordable for most. For the average residential consumer, electricity
use is often a small percentage of total household expenses. For example, in the United
States residential customers spend an average of 1.3 percent of median household income
in Utah to 4.6 percent in South Carolina on residential electricity (calculated from EIA
data). For low-income customers, however, the proportion of income spent on energy can
be much higher. Federal policymakers work with state governments, PUCs, and utilities
to help low-income consumers afford energy. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Program (LIHEAP) provides federal energy assistance to families at 110-150 percent of
the federal poverty level. For example, in Ohio's Percentage of Income Payment Plan Plus,
consumers with incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level (roughly
$35,000 in 2013) spend a maximum of 6 percent of their income on electricity (Ohio PUC
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