Quantifying Factors for Participation in Local Electricity Markets

The increasing amount of renewable generation in the German energy system and the rising awareness of residential electricity customers pave the way to the installation of local electricity markets (LEMs). Such local markets allow residential consumers and prosumers to trade electricity on a local level. We analyze the intrinsic participation factors that motivate residential German electricity customers to participate in LEMs. To this end, we develop a structural equation model and conduct a survey among 195 German electricity customers. Our findings show that a high regard for green products, an affinity to (new) technology, and a high community identity significantly increase the willingness of customers to participate in LEMs.