Research on strategy about time-of-use pricing and economic operation of power supplier based on Stackelberg game

Abstract

Demand-side management is an important method to improve the stability of power consumption and the reliability of power grid. In Energy Internet, the power supplier can obtain more detailed data about users' behaviour with numerous smart devices and advanced information network. Here, the utility function of power supplier is established by using the utility function of different users at different times, explicitly taking into account the economic operation's impact. The authors propose a Stackelberg game model to formulate the gaming process between users and power supplier. The authors convert the model into a convex problem to maximum power supplier's benefit, and then calculate the corresponding optimal time-of-use prices, and optimal economic operation power. The simulation results show that the model is effective and has a better result than the traditional profit-only model and non-time-of-use electricity pricing model.