Household Environmental Behaviours - Energy Use 2024

Electricity tariffs

Almost half (48%) of people reported being on standard electricity tariffs. Further, 21% reported being on day/night or day/night/weekend tariffs, 12% on smart tariffs and 19% who did not know what tariff they were on (See Table 6.1). At 52%, a slightly higher proportion of people in rural areas reported being on standard tariffs than the 46% of those in urban areas. Over half of all electric vehicle owners reported being on a smart tariff or a day/night or day/night/weekend tariff.  Among those who did not own an electric vehicle, 30% reported being on these tariffs. 

The numbers of people on standard tariffs increased with age, rising from 31% of those aged 16 to 29 years to 63% of those aged 60 to 69 years and those aged 70 or over (See Figure 6.1).  Further, the proportion of people who did not know what tariff they were on was much higher for those aged 16 to 29 years (44%) than for other age groups.

Consumer Behaviour

People were also surveyed on whether they changed tariff in the last year (See Table 6.2) and whether they changed consumption patterns to take advantage of different rates at different times of day (See Table 6.3). Just over three out of every five people reported not changing tariffs in the last year, with 15% not aware whether they changed tariffs or not, while around a quarter of people reported changing tariffs. Overall, 10% of people nationally changed their electricity consumption patterns to take advantage of different electricity price rates at different times of day (See Table 6.3).