Smart metering consumer behavior study in the Republic of Ireland: Further analyses on the consumers’ electricity consumptions and usage perceptions

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

With the disclosure of the conclusions of the Republic of Ireland’s Smart Metering Trials, this report intends to summarize the experience and the Consumer Behavior results. I also complement the Irish report by examining the effect of demographic and attitudinal variables in the change of electricity consumption during the trial and by studying the accuracy of the participants’ perception of the change in their consumptions and bills during the experience. The main conclusion is that the participants were not able to take full advantage of the potentiality of the Time-of-Use tariffs to reduce bills and did not have a clear perception of their consumptions and spending, which may have prevented them of achieving better results.