Electric utility rate demonstration project
Subtitle: Rhode Island, 1977-1978
By: principal investigator, United States Department of Energy
Series: Electric utility rate demonstration projects: state files; ICPSR -- 7883; ICPSR (Series) -- 7883
Publisher: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor
Published: 1980
Place of publication: Ann Arbor, Mich
Language: und
Format: [computer file] :
Subjects: Electric utilities; Rates; Electric power consumption
Description: The Blackstone Valley Electric Company conducted the Rhode Island demonstration. Only parts 1,2, and 5 are available for Rhode Island.
Notes: The Federal Energy Administration, now incorporated into the Department of Energy, initiated a series of studies on customer response to utility regulatory pricing early in 1975. These studies that comprise the Electric Utility Rate Demonstration program had three major objectives, (a) to demonstrate to utilities and to utility regulators the viability and customer acceptance of innovative electric rates, (b) to gather empirical data on the impact of such rates on customers and class electricity consumption patterns, and (c) to transfer the results of comprehensive analysis of these data nationwide. The demonstration project series consists of a five-part study for each of the eleven participating states. Part 1, the Customer Survey Response File, contains a wide variety of questions that cover attitudes and behavior on energy-related matters as well as appliance inventories and economic information. Each demonstration used a different interview instrument so there is a great deal of variation in the scope of the questionnaire surveys. The number of interview waves and the existance of control groups varied among the demonstrations. Part 2, the Demographic Data File, contains summary demographic, household, and appliance data for participants in the experiment.

Data in this file are stored as 173-character logical records. A demonstration may have up to three records per customer, derived from the pre-test, the mid-experiment, and the post-test questionnarie surveys. Part 3, the Utility Load Data Group, contains the participating utilites' net system load. Each record contains 28 days of hourly net system load data for each utility. Utility load data are linked to a customer by utility ID which is contained in both the demographic and utility load file. The data are stored in 4,732 character logical records. The number of records in the dataset reflects the number of 28-day cycles that span the demonstration. Hourly temperature, wind speed, and humidity by appropriate geographic areas are stored in Part 4, the Weather Data Group. Each record contains 28 days of data for a specific weather station. The number of records per weather station is linked to the amount of time a weather station has reported. Weather data are linked to a customer by weather station ID in both the demographic and weather files. The data are stored as 4,731 character logical records.

The number of records in the dataset is based on the number of weather stations that reported in the demonstration area and the number of 28 day cycles that the demonstration spanned. Part 5, the Usage Data Group, has data recording individual consumption of electricity. Each record for a customer contains 28 days of consumption data, usually at hourly intervals. The number of records per customer in this file is relative to the amount of time the customer spent participating in the experiment. A customer's demographic data and usage data are linked by customer ID. The data are stored as 3,393-character logical records. The number of records in this dataset is the multiple of the number of participants and the number of 28-day cycles that comprised the demonstrations.

ICPSR data class: Class III.

Chronological coverage: 1977-1978.

Rhode Island.