Flexible Future : Exploring The Effects of Real Time Prices on Swedish Households’ Price Responsiveness

Sammanfattning: The exceptionally high electricity prices in Sweden during 2022 changed the common view about electricity consumption and an increasing number of households switched from fixed or monthly contracts to real time price (RTP) contracts. Historically, there has been a limited amount of real user data on RTP customers and their consumption behaviors. This thesis takes advantage of the growing number of RTP contracts and deployment of hourly meters and uses hourly consumption data from 1104 Swedish households (located in SE4) over a two-year period in order to analyze their price responsiveness and how their consumption patterns affect the grid. It also investigates the current and future adoption outlook of RTP contracts among households. The results from the study indicate that households with RTP contracts are about four times more price responsive compared to households with other contract types in 2022. It was also found that the RTP customers generally had a positive impact on the grid by reducing their consumption during high peaks and increasing consumption during off peaks. Lastly, the thesis found that RTP contract adoption has increased from 1% to 10% within two years in the studied area and suggests a continued upward trend for RTP adoption in Sweden. The findings of this thesis enhance the existing scientific literature by providing insights with real user data into electricity consumption behaviors. These insights are important for industries and policymakers, specifically in terms of effectively coordinating household flexibility among various stakeholders and products within the electricity market.