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Adoption of Information Systems in the Electricity Sector: The Issue of Smart Metering
Abstract
Given increases in electricity consumptions, coupled with finite resources and technological advances, ICT-enabled electrical networks such as smart grids are increasingly being deployed by energy companies. One part of smart grids is smart meters, which are digital electrical meters, having the potential to increase energy efficiency in both residential and industrial sectors. However, a challenge to smart meter implementation in residential settings is acceptability and adoption by the end-users (or consumers). Despite the acknowledged challenges in smart meter adoption, little academic research has been conducted on this topic. This study attempts to contribute towards that by developing a model of SMT adoption (drawing on existing literature on adoption behaviors and motivational psychology) and testing it using a survey of German consumers. Results highlight the important role played by factors such as internal and external locus of control (among others) on consumers' intention to adopt SMT. © (2012) by the AIS/ICIS Administrative Office All rights reserved.
... Smart Meters (SM) have been recognized as a significant step towards smart grids (Wunderlich, Veit, & Sarker, 2012) which are advanced energy networks that enhance the efficiency, reliability, and sustainability of electricity distribution. As highlighted by Erlinghagen et al. (2015), smart grids are central to the ongoing energy transition, facilitating the integration of distributed, renewable electricity generation. ...
... These meters seamlessly integrate information and communication technologies into energy systems to optimize functionality (Bedi et al., 2018). Described by Wunderlich, Veit, and Sarker (2012) as digital electricity meters enabling bidirectional communication with energy suppliers, SM simply operate as modern energy monitors, tracking usage and transmitting data directly to providers. ...
Smart Meters (SM) are a key element in modern energy systems, utilizing information technologies to optimize energy management. Despite their growing recognition, their global implementation faces numerous challenges. One such challenge arises from the ambiguity surrounding the term "smart," leading to confusion about the defining characteristics of smartness in these meters. Drawing inspiration from Alter's seminal paper "Making Sense of Smartness in the Context of Smart Devices and Smart Systems" (2020), we employ Alter's guiding principles to structure our research. Through a literature review and the application of these principles, our aim is to align chosen studies with the concept of smartness in SM while uncovering additional dimensions. Our analysis results in the development of a framework comprising 16 key aspects that incorporate smartness in SM, providing structured criteria for their evaluation. We offer a tailored framework for a comprehensive and enduring definition of smartness in SM beyond technical considerations.
... Wunderlich, Veit and Sarker [12], [13] Energy efficiency and renewable energy integration ...
Smart Grid has emerged as a phenomenon in energy management by replacing traditional grids with cutting-edge technology. Central to this innovation are smart meters, which hold significant potential for transforming energy consumption, monitoring, and regulation. However, the success of smart meter implementation relies heavily on user engagement. This research delves into the perceptions, barriers, and concerns associated with smart meter usage, focusing on Sweden, where smart meter deployment is mandated by the government. Utilizing a two-step investigation comprising a literature review and interviews with new smart meter users, this study identifies key obstacles and apprehensions hindering acceptance and adoption. By employing the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) theory as an interpretive lens, the analysis underscores the understanding of users as a relevant social group and the interpretive flexibility of a technology that, for its closure, requires further negotiation among the different relevant social groups. This approach sheds light on the challenges associated with the need for appraisal by users and the commitment to a specific technological choice by institutions. The findings offer insights for future research and practice to promote sustainable energy systems.
Keywords
Smart Grid, Smart Meter, User Perspective, SCOT Theory.
... On the other hand, the increasing digital orientation of a firm can offset its consumption of resources. For example, smart metersan IoT digital technologycan increase energy efficiency in factories and offices by 10 to 20 % as well as reduce water consumption by detecting leaks (Manyika et al., 2015;Wunderlich et al., 2012). Moreover, so-called "green software engineering" -a digital capabilitycan help reduce the negative impact of the increasing consumption of energy and resources resulting from increasing digitalization (Naumann et al., 2011). ...
Digitalization is increasingly seen as a strategic means for firms to yield competitive and environmental advantages. Still, current empirical research does not yet provide ample evidence on how a firm's strategic posture towards digitalization connects to environmental performance. This study examines the link between digital orientation and environmental performance as well as the moderating role of technological turbulence. The natural-resource-based view and literature on strategic orientations provide the conceptual foundations. The hypotheses are tested with data from 515 U.S. Standard and Poor's 500 companies with 2,800 firm observations from 2009 to 2019. The results indicate that, first, a firm's digital orientation has a significant and positive effect on environmental performance and, second, this effect is even more pronounced in technologically turbulent business environments. In sum, our findings suggest that managers can improve their firm's environmental performance and competitive position by increasing the digital orientation within their organizations. We thus add to the literature on the natural-resource-based view by identifying digital orientation as a strategy aligned with the natural environment. Finally, we derive practical implications for managers and policymakers aiming to bring together digitalization and green strategies.
... Up-skilling households with respect to control over own data, is currently an active area of research. Not so long ago researchers suggested that privacy was of little concern to householders [51], who cared more about credibility of data [52]. Householders were not very concern about the nature of the data collected and analyzed by energy service providers [53] either. ...
Today, when undertaking requirements elicitation, engineers attend to the needs and wants of the user groups considered relevant for the software system. However, answers to some relevant questions (e.g., how to improve adoption of the intended system) cannot always be addressed through direct need and want elicitation. Using an example of energy demand-response systems, this paper demonstrates that use of grounded theory analysis can help address such questions. The theories emerging from such analysis produce a set of additional requirements which cannot be directly elicited from individuals/groups, and would otherwise be missed. Thus, we demonstrate that the theories generated through grounded theory analysis can serve as additional valuable sources of requirements for software and its wider system. This paper extends our previous work by demonstrating how several theories can be constructed and utilised for a single system analysis.
... By using SMs, consumers can also reduce the electricity bill by using more appliances in the off-peak period compared to the peak period. Hence, extensive use of SMs is noticed recently [1]. ...
Cost-friendly differential privacy (CDP) of smart meters can be preserved by an appropriate charging and discharging mechanism that uses rechargeable batteries (RBs) to generate Laplace distributed random noise. However, the existing CDP methods have several issues. Firstly, the maximum discharge rate of an RB requires to vary with the maximal consumption of houses. Secondly, the probability of an RB to charge/discharge depends on the demand, regardless of the state of charge (SoC) of an RB. Thirdly, in extreme SoC (near-empty or almost fully charged) of an RB, no noise added to the demand. To overcome these, we propose a mechanism in which a novel probability density function is designed to generate near Laplace distributed random noise. We also utilize a renewable energy source with small storage in cascade with an RB to enhance performance. Both theoretical analysis and simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.
... Empirical studies on consumer perceptions of Smart Metering reveal that, in principle, consumers place a high value on maintaining control over the disclosure of personal power consumption data [82,146]. At the same time, studies show that consumers lack proper understanding of who can access their data [77,119]. ...
Smart Meters are a key component of increasing the power efficiency of the Smart Grid. To help manage the grid effectively, these meters are designed to collect information on power consumption and send it to third parties. With Smart Metering, for the first time, these cloud-connected sensing devices are legally mandated to be installed in the homes of millions of people worldwide. Via a multi-staged empirical study that utilized an open-ended questionnaire, focus groups, and a design probe, we examined how people characterize the tension between the utility of Smart Metering and its impact on privacy. Our findings show that people seek to make abstract Smart Metering data accountable by connecting it to their everyday practices. Our insight can inform the design of usable privacy configuration tools that help Smart Metering consumers relate abstract data with the real-world implications of its disclosure.
... The sample (Korean households) is very small (n = 100) and consists of 98% male participants. Wunderlich et al. (2012a) The authors pretest a model of SMT adoption behavior employing variables of technology acceptance and motivational factors. ...
Although technologies spurred by the “internet of things” are increasingly being introduced in homes, only a few studies have examined the adoption or diffusion of such household technologies. One particular area of interest in this context is electricity consumption, especially the introduction of smart metering technology (SMT) in households. Despite its
growing prominence, SMT implementation has met with various challenges across the world, including limited adoption by consumers. Thus, this study empirically examines the antecedents of SMT adoption by potential consumers. Using a mixed-methods design, the study first unearths the SMT-specific antecedents, then develops a contextualized model
by drawing on theories from motivational psychology and the antecedents identified earlier, and then tests this model using a large-scale survey of German consumers. Results provide support for many of the hypotheses and highlight the importance of motivational factors and some household demographic, privacy, and innovation-related factors on consumers’ intention to adopt SMT.
... Concretely, some messages they could imagine to be visible in the whole neighborhood, but some they only would like to be visible to their next neighbors living in the same house. This needs finegrained controls matches as experienced in the EMON instance and is described in literature as well, where the locus of control over data sharing is critical for technology acceptance especially in Smart Metering(Kranz et al., 2010;Wunderlich et al., 2012). In the AAL case the task of finding the right balance between privacy and sharing also was linked to the aim of fostering social interaction and awareness between tenants in the city quarter. ...
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/socio-informatics-9780198733249?cc=de&lang=en&#
... The communication network, coupled with sensors deployed across the grid, provides information about the grid's state, which allows one to isolate faults and operations to resume across the unaffected parts of the grid. This new technology, which electricity producers and distribution utilities are phasing in, is designed to gradually increase the efficiency of production and distribution by actively reducing peak demand and the likelihood of blackout conditions without the need to construct additional expensive peak-load demand plants ( Potter, Archambault, & Westrick, 2009;Wunderlich, Veit, & Sarker, 2012a). ...
An unexplored gap in IT adoption research concerns the positive role of shared benefits even when personal information is exposed. To explore the evaluation paradigm of shared benefits versus the forfeiture of personal information, we analyze how utility consumers use smart metering technology (SMT). In this context, utility companies can monitor electricity usage and directly control consumers’ appliances to disable them during peak load conditions. Such information could reveal consumers’ habits and lifestyles and, thus, stimulating concerns about their privacy and the loss of control over their appliances. Responding to calls for theory contextualization, we assess the efficacy of applying extant adoption theories in this emergent context while adding the perspective of the psychological ownership of information. We use the factorial survey method to assess consumers’ intentions to adopt SMT in the presence of specific conditions that could reduce the degree of their privacy or their control over their appliances and electricity usage data. Our findings suggest that, although the shared benefit of avoiding disruptions in electricity supply (brownouts) is a significant factor in electricity consumers’ decisions to adopt SMT, concerns about control and information privacy are also factors. Our findings extend the previous adoption research by exploring the role of shared benefits and could provide utility companies with insights into the best ways to present SMT to alleviate consumers’ concerns and maximize its adoption. © 2017, Association for Information Systems. All rights reserved.
... A study from Malaysia explored usage intention of Green IS using the TAM framework based on survey answers from 542 students on Green IS in general (Guan Choon et al. 2014). Wunderlich et al. (2012Wunderlich et al. ( , 2013aWunderlich et al. ( , 2013b) study individual adoption intentions in large-scale studies in Germany towards smart meter technology with the help of an extended and adapted TPB (Theory of Planned Behavior)/TAM with intrinsic and extrinsic motivational constructs. Yet, the researchers focus on adoption intention only and do not consider subsequent behavior. ...
In the domain of energy consumption, good intentions do not necessarily imply sustainable behavior. Information Systems (IS) can promote energy efficiency by providing users with information about their behavior. While IS research has developed several models explaining adoption and usage of various technologies in the organizational context, less is known about the adoption of IS in the consumer context. We examine usage behavior of a sustainability smartphone application in a large-scale field study applying the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Our data, collected in two surveys and from server log data, suggests that users do not follow through on their good intentions: while intention is indeed well explained by UTAUT factors, it does not necessarily predict usage. Moreover, we find only a mild correlation of self-reported usage and log data. The results highlight the need to better understand adoption and usage of IS.
... Hence, several recent publications have analyzed the adoption of Advanced Metering Infrastructure -AMI (Strüker et al. 2011). It is considered to be an essential component of any IS-supported energy management, as it enables detailed data analysis and control of energy supply and demand (Wunderlich et al. 2012;Beariswyl et al. 2011;Kranz and Picot 2012). Corbett (2013) analyzes how AMI may increase energy efficiency. ...
In this paper we show how IS research can contribute to two major issues many societies face today – dealing with the decreasing availability of easily accessible fossil fuels and the threat of climate change. We introduce an IS artifact that uses historical data on energy consumption, energy generation, and mobility behavior to unleash synergies between residential photovoltaic panels and electric vehicles. Using real world data we show in simulations that our residential information system allows households to decrease annual net energy costs by up to 68 percent. This results in an earlier break-even point of green technologies and clears a path towards a more sustainable society. Following up with an investment analysis we show that the information system has the same financial impact as the subsidy for plugin-hybrid electric vehicles by the U.S. federal government following the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – at no cost to the taxpayer.
... SM deployment is spreading rapidly worldwide [1]. In Europe, the adoption of SMs has been mandated by a directive of the European Parliament [2], which requires 80% SM adoption in all European households by 2020 and 100% by This work was partially supported by the Catalan Government under SGR2009SGR1046 and by the Spanish Government under projects TEC2010-17816 and TSI-020400-2011- 18. 2022. ...
A smart-meter (SM) measures and reports the energy consumption of a user at frequent time intervals, revealing critical private information about user's energy consumption behavior. In this paper, privacy in a SM system is studied in the presence of an alternative energy source (AES). The privacy-power function is introduced to study the trade-off between the achievable information theoretic privacy and the average power that can be provided by the AES. A single-letter information theoretic expression is provided for the privacy-power function, and its correspondence with the rate-distortion function is established. It is shown that the output alphabet can be restricted to be equal to the input alphabet without loss of optimality, which simplifies the numerical analysis significantly. Some numerical results are provided for various input alphabets and distributions.
... This high resolution information on the consumption can increase the efficiency of energy networks significantly. This prompted hasty adoption of SMs worlwide [1]. However, SMs also triggired a growing concern on consumer privacy [2]. ...
Smart meter (SM) measurements provide near realtime information on the electricity consumption of a user to the utility provider (UP). This data can be used to extract private information on the energy consumption patterns of the user. Assuming that the user has access to an alternative energy source (AES) in addition to the power grid, SM privacy problem is studied from an information theoretic perspective. The energy requirement of the user (input load) at each time instant can be satisfied either from the power grid (output load) or from the AES. It is assumed that the output load can be perfectly tracked by the UP, and the privacy is measured through the information leakage rate. For given average and peak power constraints on the AES, privacy-power function is defined, and its equivalence to the rate-distortion function with a difference distortion measure is shown. Focusing on continuous input loads, the privacy-power function is characterized when there is only peak power limitation on the AES, while the Shannon lower bound is provided for the general case. The bound is shown to be achievable for the exponential input distribution.
... Despite evidence from pilot studies indicating that customers can achieve significant reductions in their electricity use (and costs) when smart meters are introduced (Hartway et al. 1999;Stromback et al. 2011), research suggests that individuals' intentions to adopt smart meters are influenced by a variety of factors. Internal intrinsic motivations, environmental concerns, and pressure from secondary sources (e.g., media) have strong impacts on intentions to adopt smart meter technologies; whereas other factors, such as perceived behavioral control and privacy risk, are less influential (Kranz and Picot 2012;Wunderlich et al. 2012). Although customer attitudes and responses to smart meters are important determinants to the ultimate success of utilities' demand-side management programs, research from this perspective only tells part of the story. ...
The large-scale generation of electricity is a major contributor to increasing levels of greenhouse gas emissions, putting pressure on the industry to reduce its environmental impacts. Electricity utility companies are looking to two strategies to help make this happen: the smart grid and demand-side management. Viewing the challenge from an IS perspective, this study attempts to answer the question: do smart grid information systems and technologies make a difference in utilities’ efforts to promote energy efficiency? Drawing on organizational information processing theory and extending it by integrating the concept of information waste, two competing hypotheses are developed and tested using hierarchical regression and data from 543 U.S. electricity utilities. The model, incorporating four levels of metering devices, is found to explain a high portion of the variance in energy efficiency effects of demand-side management programs. This suggests that there are IS-enabled information processing capacities within smart meters that have a significant influence on utilities’ EDM effectiveness. However, the results also point to the potential for both positive and negative effects. Implications of these findings for practice and future research directions are discussed.
... Results show that normative and hedonic drivers (intrinsic motivation) were stronger than the goal gain frame oriented drivers (extrinsic motivation) legislative pressure and economic factors. Whereas differences between both motivational factors seem to be not as distinctive in adoption settings (see also Wunderlich et al. 2012), intrinsic/internalized factors seem to play the more important role. ...
Given rising electricity consumption, coupled with finite resources, ICT-enabled electrical networks such as smart grids are increasingly being deployed by energy companies. One part of smart grids is smart meter technology (SMT), which are digital electrical meters, having the potential to increase energy efficiency in both residential and industrial sectors. However, a challenge to SMT-implementation in residential settings is its adoption (and continued usage) by consumers. Despite these challenges, little academic research has been conducted on this topic. This study attempts to fill that void and is, to the knowledge of the authors, the first study to empirically investigate this topic from a user perspective. Specifically, we developed a model surrounding consumers' intention to continue using SMT, by drawing on theories of adoption and motivational psychology, and testing it using a sample (n = 933) of SMT-users of a large super-regional energy supplier. Results provide support for our hypotheses.
Home energy management systems (HEMS) offer control and the
ability to manage energy, generating and collecting energy consumption data at the most detailed level. However, data at this level
poses various privacy concerns, including, for instance, profiling
consumer behaviors and large-scale surveillance. The question of
how utility providers can get value from such data without infringing consumers’ privacy has remained under-investigated. We
address this gap by exploring the pro-sharing attitudes and privacy
perceptions of 30 HEMS users and non-users through an interview
study. While participants are concerned about data misuse and
stigmatization, our analysis also reveals that incentives, altruism,
trust, security and privacy, transparency and accountability encourage data sharing. From this analysis, we derive privacy design
strategies for HEMS that can both improve privacy and engender
adoption.
In this chapter, the research model of this study is developed. Traditional research on the adoption of innovations and information technology emphasizes that characteristics of the innovation or technology affect consumers’ adoption or intention to adopt (Arts et al. International Journal of Research in Marketing 28:134–144, 2011; Davis et al. Management Science 35:982–1003, 1989). However, researchers have argued that consumer-related factors might be more important than innovation characteristics in explaining adoption behavior (e.g., Im et al. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 35:63–75, 2007; Kleijnen et al. Journal of Service Research 7:343–359, 2005). Moreover, research has demonstrated that these motivations mediate the effects of innovation characteristics, such as relative advantage, complexity, or compatibility, on adoption and are thus powerful predictors of adoption (Meuter et al. Journal of Marketing 69:61–83, 2005). Based on the reviewed literature, this study proposes a modified version of the adoption model introduced by Malhotra et al. (Journal of Management Information Systems 25:267–300, 2008), since it offers the combination of the technology adoption and motivational aspects. The original model is based on the TAM (Davis MIS Quarterly 13:319–340, 1989; Davis et al. Management Science 35:982–1003, 1989) and the Organismic Integration Theory (OIT) (Deci and Ryan. Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Springer, 1985). The OIT allows one to understand how a user’s internal psychological perception about autonomy shapes his or her intentions and behaviors. Hence, it can help explain why some technologies are more readily accepted by some users than by others.
Smart meters (SMs) measure and report energy consumption of individual users to the utility provider at short intervals on the order of minutes. While SM data is used to increase the efficiency in electricity distribution, it also conveys sensitive private data on the energy consumption behaviour of individual customers. In this work, privacy in a smart metering system is studied from an information theoretic perspective in the presence of alternative energy sources and storage units. An alternative energy source provides increased privacy by diversifying the energy source, and the storage device filters the real energy consumption to reduce the leaked data. Connections between this problem and rate-distortion theory is established, and both theoretical and numerical results are presented.
Verification and interval arithmetic are the fundamental methods that we deal with in error analysis. Verification strategy is used in most error analysis on solution sets of linear and nonlinear systems. On the other hand, interval arithmetic seems to be the best method for analyzing errors in floating point arithmetic by now. This paper devotes to analyze errors of floating-point arithmetic in C programming language library functions based on interval arithmetic. The authors gives algorithm descriptions of trigonometric, radical and exponential functions as well as algorithm analysis, and gives an upper bound of theoretical errors by comparing floating-point arithmetic's result with that of interval arithmetic.
While some agent-based models have been developed for analyzing the German electricity market, there has been little research done on the emerging issue of intra-German congestion and its effects on the bidding behavior of generator agents. Yet, studies of other markets have shown that transmission grid constraints considerably affect strategic behavior in electricity markets. In this paper, the implications of transmission constraints on power markets are analyzed for the case of Germany. Market splitting is applied in the case of congestion in the grid. For this purpose, the agent-based modeling of electricity systems (AMES) market package developed by Sun and Tesfatsion is modified to fit the German context, including a detailed representation of the German high-voltage grid and its interconnections. Implications of transmission constraints on prices and social welfare are analyzed for scenarios that include strategic behavior of market participants and high wind power generation. It can be shown that strategic behavior and transmission constraints are inter-related and may pose severe problems in the future German electricity market.
Since the 1980s, researchers have been studying the phenomenon associated with technology being diffused to the household.
In this paper, three themes in that stream of research, specifically adoption, use, and impacts, are explored. Key studies
from prior research within each theme are discussed and directions for future research are offered. The directions for future
research range from investigating adoption issues associated with the digital divide to understanding the impacts of new technology
and social networking sites on individuals and families. The evolving nature of the technology continues to offer interesting
research directions and challenges, with the study of unintended consequences of technology use presenting, perhaps, the greatest
opportunities.