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Because there are electricity plans where the cost of electricity depends on the time of day you use it, some things like heat pumps and Tesla Powerwalls consume electricity from the grid at off-peak hours and avoid consuming electricity during peak hours in order to reduce the cost. Since these systems (I would guess) are becoming more and more common, I could imagine that the price during off-peak hours would be increasing due to an increase in demand at that time because of them, and the price during peak hours would decrease due to a decrease in demand. Is this actually happening? Is the difference in the cost during peak compared to off-peak hours getting smaller? Is it possible that eventually the cost of electricity will be independent of the time of day? ―Panamitsu (talk) 11:11, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's more like the opposite. Solar power, mostly available around noon, off-peak, increases the variation in the electricity price over the day. Utility companies try to counter this problem by promoting contracts with variable prices, to shift some of the consumption to off-peak hours, but this only offers partial compensation. Adjusting electricity consumption to availability has a cost. PiusImpavidus (talk) 13:18, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The article about Electricity pricing

Electricity price forecasting (EPF) is a branch of energy forecasting which focuses on using mathematical, statistical and machine learning models to predict electricity prices in the future.

may be helpful. One wishes to know more about how different pricing for consumption during on-peak vs. off-peak hours will affect a national electricity grid's Load profile but, as noted in the header, we remain unable to give predictions. The OP seems to imagine a simple fully adaptable model of Energy economics where consumers can choose their time of consumption and do so; ultimately when everyone has learned to avoid peak hour consumption there will no longer be any peaks and therefore no longer any reason for price difference.

However Energy economics is more complex than a simple supply vs. demand price model may imply.

Development of energy economics theory over the last two centuries can be attributed to three main economic subjects – the rebound effect, the energy efficiency gap and more recently, 'green nudges'.

For illustration consider an area or country that has a copious installed generation capacity because its geography of mountains and lakes favours hydreoelectric stations that give year-round electric power at near zero (only maintenance cost) at source. Therefore a significant part of the price to consumers goes to maintain the distribution grid which, due to the same mountainous geography, is expensive to maintain (and continue extending). All parts of the grid must be dimensioned to handle the peak load whose magnitude becomes a major influence on consumer price. Government intervention in pricing results from A) calculations of a potential loss of energy security when peak energy demand cannot be met, B) political parties that promote adjustments to make pricing "fairer" e.g. by means of tax rebate and C) more or less rational appeals to climate consciousness about energy consumption. Philvoids (talk) 14:09, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

See these comments:

In Britain, the companies which supply electricity and gas for domestic use are pressing customers to install smart meters. Some people are resisting as they see it as a way of manipulating pricing so that the cost goes up when demand is high. 2A00:23C5:8410:4A01:907A:4B08:B028:3AA1 (talk) 12:37, 24 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Also another which was unsigned:

The "smart meter" article states:

Though the task of meeting national electricity demand with accurate supply is becoming ever more challenging as intermittent renewable generation sources make up a greater proportion of the energy mix, the real-time data provided by smart meters allow grid operators to integrate renewable energy onto the grid in order to balance the networks.

Thanks for the responses. Looks like I was oversimplifying it a bit. ―Panamitsu (talk) 23:23, 14 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]