Household preferences for integrated smart multi-energy services: A choice experiment approach

In the context of the digitalisation and low-carbon transition currently underway in energy systems, integrated smart multi-energy services have emerged as a pivotal interface between end users and electricity, gas, and water systems. This study examines the preferences of urban residents for such services in South Korea, focusing on an integrated platform that combines multi-energy monitoring, digital energy consulting, and demand response linkage. A choice experiment with 504 respondents is analysed using a mixed logit model to estimate marginal willingness to pay and the relative importance of service attributes. The results reveal a distinctly hierarchical preference structure. The monthly subscription fee is the dominant constraint on adoption, indicating that ongoing cost commitments outweigh service features in early-stage adoption decisions. Among non-price attributes, electricity-related information exhibits the highest salience, reflecting its high usage frequency, transparent feedback, and direct link to household expenditures. Other monitoring functions, such as gas and water, are positively valued but play a supplementary role, while personalised consulting and demand response linkage show limited payment conversion. Scenario simulations further demonstrate strong price sensitivity, while higher and predictable demand response participation frequencies can partially offset cost-related resistance at a given subscription level. Overall, adoption of integrated smart multi-energy services is driven less by the breadth of technological integration than by price constraints and the prominence of a small set of understandable and verifiable core information services. These findings provide empirically grounded guidance for designing scalable, user-centred integrated smart multi-energy services for low-carbon energy transitions.