Household Preferences for Time-of-Use Rates in the Portuguese Electricity Market

Abstract

This paper contributes to the debate about peak-load pricing by making an analysis of the residential electricity market in Portugal. The results were built on techniques of logit regression complemented by quantile regression. We estimate the probability of choosing the Time-Of-Use electricity rate and the probability of reducing the Monthly Costs of Electricity by switching the rate for different consumer profiles. Factors such as consumer behaviour and knowledge are determinant when it comes to choosing differentiated rates. Our results suggest guidelines for defining policy measures that will promote an effective change in consumption periods and rate choices.