Time is Money: The Social Benefits of Time-of-Use Tariffs

Abstract:

As the conventional flat tariff does not reflect the varying cost of electricity generation, implementing time-varying tariffs for electricity end-users can improve market efficiency. This study first estimates the impact of a mandatory time-of-use (TOU) pricing policy on the total electricity load of the society, and find evidence for statistically significant load-shifting effects. Next, we develop a data-driven method to examine the impact of the TOU pricing policy on social benefits in the electricity industry, including reduced fuel costs, greenhouse gas emissions, capital investment in generation capacity, as well as transmission congestion and ancillary service costs. Our estimations reveal that the TOU tariffs yielded social benefits equating to 4.5% of wholesale electricity generation costs. With tariff redesign, this percentage could increase to 7.6%.

时间：2024年4月12日，下午2：00

地点：经济学院6-210

主办单位：浙江财经大学经济学院、浙江财经大学数量经济研究中心

嘉宾简介：

郭伯威，中国人民大学应用经济学院副教授、院务委员，中国人民大学杰出青年学者，剑桥大学能源政策研究所（EPRG）客座研究员，博士毕业于剑桥大学。主要研究电力市场改革、碳经济、低碳消费行为、能源与环境公共政策等。主持国家自然科学基金1项，代表作发表于《经济研究》、Journal of Environmental Economics and Management、The Energy Journal等国内外核心期刊。