Socio-economic acceptability for smart grid development - A comprehensive review

A deep transformation of the electrical grid system at the global level is expected in the near future, with new economic relations between energy suppliers and consumers. This is the smart grid framework, which can integrate the behavior of all connected users, who become prosumers, to ensure a sustainable energy supply in an efficient, economical and safe manner. Smart grid projects have a significant impact on electricity consumers through shifts in consumer behavior, culture and lifestyle. The aim of this paper is to explore the degree of investigation of the main socio-economic features, in terms of private and social costs, which are relevant for smart grids development and public acceptance. To this aim, a literature review of 148 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles on smart grids has been conducted, developing an original taxonomy for the socio-economic features in terms of private (direct) costs directly associated with the monetary costs paid by consumers, and social (indirect) costs constituted by consumers' perception, privacy, cyber security and regulation. The importance of the analysis of social costs arising from externalities is that they may hinder the deployment of specific technologies, even if these technologies appear to be useful based on private costs. The results reveal that the explored literature mainly deals with private costs, although an emerging literature starts to address the social costs that may hamper smart grids deployment. The paper reviews new opportunities and challenges for further research, bridging the gap between engineering and socio-economic research areas, including business, organizational applications, policy and security issues. The resulting enrichment of interdisciplinary know-how can be the basis for the sustainable development of current and future generations.