A Mixed Integer Programming Formulation for Optimal Scheduling of Household Appliances with Budget Constraint

Acceleration in energy consumption leads to a mismatch between supply and demand. This problem can be resolved by integrating Demand Side Management (DSM) programs with Energy Management Systems. DSM programs include planning, scheduling, implementing and monitoring of the demand load in a way that ensures benefits for the utility company as well as for the consumers. Tackling the Residential Load Management Problem (RLMP) is quite challenging especially while considering variants such as buildings' loads, demand uncertainty, consumers' preferences, tariff and time horizon. The Inclining Block Rate (IBR) tariff system is still used especially in developing countries. However, solving the RLMP under the IBR tariff has not received much attention in the literature. This paper addresses the RLMP under the IBR tariff while maximizing the fulfillment of the appliances' schedule with respect to budget limit. In this paper, a mixed integer programming model is proposed for scheduling of home appliances over one month under IBR as a standalone pricing tariff. The performance of the proposed model is tested using a dataset from a typical household in Egypt. Results show that the obtained schedule fulfills the consumer's usage target within the given budget limit. Various budget scenarios are investigated, and the obtained results show to what extend the budget can control the on/off status of each appliance in each time slot over one month