Smart Grid Economics: A Field Experimental Approach to Demand Response

This book aims to report on a cutting-edge research project of the smart grid in Japan, resting on the three pillars of field experiments, behavioral economics, and big data. The field experiments on the smart grid were conducted in four regions in Japan--Yokohama city, Toyota city, Keihanna Science City, and Kitakyushu city--over a three-year period from 2012 to 2014 after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, and the subsequent accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants. Our focus here is on demand response in the smart grid environment, which we also discuss in the context of power system reforms. The book is intended for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, policy makers, and business leaders.

Takanori Ida is Professor at Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University, Japan. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Kyoto University. He specializes in behavioral economics and experimental economics. Professor Ida has published many articles in journals such as American Economic Review, American Economic Journal, International Economic Review, and European Economic Review. His major publications include Broadband Economics: Lessons from Japan (Routledge, 2009).

Makoto Tanaka is Professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Japan. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Tokyo. He specializes in energy economics and operations research. Professor Tanaka has published many articles in journals such as American Economic Review, American Economic Journal, European Journal of Operational Research, and IEEE Transactions on Power Systems. He is the author of several books including Economics of Power Systems, International Series in Operations Research & Management Science (Springer, 2022).

Koichiro Ito is Associate Professor at Harris School of Public Policy, the University of Chicago, USA. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests lie at the intersection of environmental and energy economics. Professor Ito has published many articles in journals such as American Economic Review, Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy, American Economic Journal, and Review of Economics and Statistics.