Assessing the impact of residential load profile changes on electricity distribution utility revenues under alternative rate structures

Decentralized energy resources (DERs) may affect the revenues of distribution utilities, depending on their rate structure. Based on a typical household load profile, we model the impacts of rooftop photovoltaics (PV) and electric vehicles (EV) on revenues of electricity distribution utilities under alternative rate structures. Our case study finds that EVs and PVs decouple peak load and energy consumption, which is problematic with volumetric rates for distribution utilities. The optimization of EV charging load can create a new peak, rendering time-of-use (ToU) counterproductive. Our findings suggest that charges to recover capacity-related costs help shield distribution utilities from undesirable revenue impacts.