Who Benefits? Equity Impacts of Demand Response Incentives and Time of Use Pricing in Power Markets.

Presenter: Jennifer Dori Schneider

Faculty Sponsor: Erin D. Baker

School: UMass Amherst

Research Area: Industrial Engineering

Session: Poster Session 6, 4:15 PM - 5:00 PM, 163, C20

ABSTRACT

Electric utilities are increasingly adopting Demand Response (DR) programs and Time-of-Use (TOU) rates to manage peak electricity demand and delay costly infrastructure upgrades. However, these strategies assume that households can shift usage or adopt enabling technologies. Many low-income households lack affordable access to smart thermostats, central air, or flexible schedules, limiting their ability to participate. These structural barriers shape who benefits and who bears the burden, raising core questions of energy justice and equity.

This project examines how DR and TOU program design affects household outcomes in 2 ways. A comparison of incentives offered by Holyoke Gas & Electric (HG&E) and Eversource reveals how both companies incentivize participants using different payout models. HG&E provides small recurring bill credits while Eversource gives a one-time larger payment (primarily including credit for applying to the program).

The second part focuses on using energy meter data collected from multiple census blocks in Holyoke, MA to analyze how different Time of Use (TOU) pricing structures affect households across income levels. Using excel calculations and R modeling, we analyze hourly data from neighborhoods in Holyoke to determine how the impact of TOU pricing varies with income.

Together, these findings demonstrate that DR and TOU policies are not merely technical tools but central equity issues. Fair program design must reflect the living realities of low-income households to ensure that all families benefit from a more resilient energy system.