Wissen, Akzeptanz und Einstellungen zur Stromsteuerung im Haushaltsbereich. Eine verhaltensökonomische Studie

The intermittency of electricity generation from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar energy, poses challenges for both the electricity grid and the electricity market. Promoting flexible demand response through smart control in households eases the burden on the grid, allows the expansion of renewable energy sources and ultimately reduces the costs for households. Here 'smart control' refers to intelligent technology that enables providers (e.g., aggregators or electricity suppliers) to automatically manage high-consumption devices, such as heat pumps, electric vehicles, or electric boilers. The aim of this project was to understand the role of knowledge, fear, and attitudes as determinants of smart control acceptance, and to identify measures to promote knowledge, intention (willingness to use smart control) and acceptance (incentivized approval of smart control), in Austrian households. To this end, interviews were conducted with energy experts, focus groups were held with households and an experimental survey was conducted with 1,000 households in Austria equipped with large consumption devices (heat pumps, electric cars, or boilers). For the quantitative survey, a knowledge scale was developed to measure objective knowledge about smart control. The results indicate that general acceptance of smart control is high, and even higher among members of energy communities. Knowledge is positively correlated with the intention to use smart control; however, this relationship depends on whether knowledge reduces or increases fear. Furthermore, experimental results indicate that knowledge interventions have no effect on the intention to use smart control and can even temporarily increase fear the more knowledge is enhanced. Therefore, it appears advantageous to convey knowledge about smart control through practical examples, demonstrating how people can integrate it into their daily life, rather than through technical details alone.