Commissioned by BEUC (The European Consumer Organisation), this study estimates the monthly, quarterly, and annual electricity costs for an archetype household in Austria and France, under varying conditions and use cases.
The study also explores the differential impact of managed use with a dynamic price contract, assuming that electric vehicle (EV) charging, washing, dishwashing and tumble drying is carried out when the electricity price is lowest in the day.
Finally, broad policy implications are formulated for price regulation and for electricity cost simulations for households.
The main benefit from dynamic pricing occurs when variable prices are on average lower than the fixed price throughout the year, or otherwise put, when the fixed price is higher than the average variable price.
The estimates for 2021 illustrate that when variable prices are unexpectedly higher than fixed prices for a sustained amount of time, this can lead to considerably higher electricity costs for households.