Would you change when you use electricity if your phone warned you that prices would spike tomorrow?
Research shows that many people would—and that doing so could save money and reduce pressure on the power grid.
Electricity prices tend to jump when demand is high, whether from heating in winter or air conditioning in summer.
Using less power during these peak hours can lower your electricity bill and help the power system run more efficiently.
Researcher Matthias Hofmann from Statnett and NTNU explains that adjusting electricity use based on price not only saves money but benefits everyone by reducing the need for costly grid upgrades.
In Norway, most households have contracts where electricity prices change from hour to hour, and every home has a smart meter that records hourly usage.
That means Norwegians can directly lower their bills by shifting energy use to cheaper times of day.
To test how people respond to price changes, Hofmann and his team ran a winter experiment where they sent texts to participating households.
The messages warned of high prices the next day, listed specific hours, and explained how much money could be saved by using less electricity during that time. Half of the households responded by adjusting their usage, especially when the savings were clearly explained.
When electricity prices surged across Europe in 2022 due to reduced gas supply, Hofmann found that 80% of households took action to lower their usage—confirming that clear price signals lead to real-world changes in behavior.
Still, most people don’t check prices hour by hour. Instead, they make broader adjustments, like turning down the heat for a whole month.
Automated systems could make things easier. For example, EV owners with smart chargers used 16% less electricity during expensive hours, compared to just 5% for those who didn’t adjust their charging habits. Even those who manually changed their charging time saved more.
Automation has great potential, but it does require investment. Hofmann believes that giving people clear, practical information about their options is key to helping them make smart choices.
Interestingly, low-income families responded just as well to price signals as higher-income households, showing that flexibility is more common than many assume. Hofmann says people respond best to simple messages like “it’s expensive now” rather than detailed price breakdowns. Push notifications that suggest specific actions and show exact savings could be a powerful tool.
In the long run, better information and smarter pricing systems could help everyone lower their bills while easing the burden on the electricity grid.
Source: KSR.
