Electric rates for commercializing thermal storage in buildings

Conference · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:6274318

Asbury, J.; Holt, L.

This paper describes the economic benefits of thermal storage in residential buildings and analyzes alternative electric-rate designs to commercialize thermal-storage technologies. Storage in three residential applications are considered: electric storage heating, storage air conditioning, and storage domestic water heating. The storage systems collect off-peak electric energy for thermal applications during peak-load hours. The economic rationale for the systems is that the marginal cost of utility-supplied energy is considerably lower during off-peak hours than during on-peak hours. The design and implementation of effective electric rates is the key to commercializing the storage technologies. Four types of rates are evaluated: time-of-use rates, demand charges, and two forms of load management contract rates (a monthly credit and an off-peak discount). The criteria used to evaluate the rates are: combined utility and customer benefits (efficiency), political acceptability, simplicity, and practical feasibility. Alternative rate types are evaluated and findings are presented for each storage application.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA); Department of Energy, Washington, DC (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-31-109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6274318
• Report Number(s): CONF-781235-2
• Resource Relation: Conference: Symposium on commercialization of solar and conservation technologies, Miami Beach, FL, USA, 11 Dec 1978
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
25 ENERGY STORAGE
AIR CONDITIONING
HEAT STORAGE
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
ECONOMIC IMPACT
HEATING SYSTEMS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE EQUIPMENT
COMMERCIALIZATION
WATER HEATERS
CHARGES
ELECTRIC POWER
LOAD MANAGEMENT
MARGINAL-COST PRICING
OFF-PEAK ENERGY STORAGE
RATE STRUCTURE
APPLIANCES
BUILDINGS
ELECTRIC APPLIANCES
ENERGY STORAGE
EQUIPMENT
GAS APPLIANCES
HEATERS
MANAGEMENT
POWER
PUBLIC UTILITIES
STORAGE
320101* - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Residential Buildings- (-1987)
290800 - Energy Planning & Policy- Heat Utilization- (1980-)
250600 - Energy Storage- Thermal
290600 - Energy Planning & Policy- Nuclear Energy