Willingness to Pay for Home Energy Management Systems: A Survey in New York and Tokyo

Ayu Washizu, Satoshi Nakano, Hideo Ishii and Yasuhiro Hayashi
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Ayu Washizu: Faculty of Social Sciences, Waseda University, 1-6-1, Nishiwaseda Shinjyuku, Tokyo 169-8050, Japan
Satoshi Nakano: The Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training, 4-8-23, Kamishakujii, Nerimaku, Tokyo 177-8502, Japan
Hideo Ishii: Advanced Collaborative Research Organization for Smart Society, Waseda University, 3-4-1, Okubo Shinjyuku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
Yasuhiro Hayashi: Department of Electrical Engineering and Bioscience, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1, Okubo Shinjyuku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 17, 1-20

Abstract: This study evaluates the acceptability of home energy management systems (HEMS) in New York and Tokyo using a questionnaire survey. We investigated three basic functions of HEMS: money saving, automatic control, and environmental impact, and then quantified people’s propensity to accept each of these three functions by measuring their willingness to pay. Using the willingness to pay results, we estimated the demand probability under a given usage price for each of the three functions of home energy management systems and analyzed how socio-economic and demographic factors influence the demand probability. The demand probability related to a home energy management system function decreases as the usage price of the function increases. However, depending on people’s socio-economic characteristics, the rate of decrease in demand probability relative to the rate of increase in usage price varies. Among the three functions of home energy management systems, we found that the automatic control function showed the highest demand probability in New York and Tokyo, emphasizing the significance of an automatic control function. In New York, when the home energy management system has an automatic control function, its demand probability increases, which is further enhanced if people trust their utility company. In Tokyo, when a home energy management system has an environmental impact function, its demand probability increases at a given price. People in Tokyo have anxieties related to new technologies such as home energy management systems. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance their comprehension of a home energy management systems to address this anxiety.

Keywords: Home Energy Management System (HEMS); Demand Probability; Willingness to Pay (WTP); Contingent Valuation Method (CVM); Ordered Probit Analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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