In the interest of economic efficiency, design of distribution networks should be taillored to the demonstrated needs of its consumers. However, in the absence of detailed knowledge related to the characteristics of electricity consumption, planning has traditionally been carried out on the
basis of empirical metrics; conservative estimates of individual
peak consumption levels and of demand diversification across
multiple consumers. Although such practices have served the industry well, the advent of smart metering opens up the possibility for gaining valuable insights on demand patterns, resulting in enhanced planning capabilities. This paper is motivated by the collection of demand measurements across 2,639 households in London, as part of Low Carbon London project’s smart-metering trial. Demand diversity and other metrics of
interest are quantified for the entire dataset as well as across different customer classes, investigating the degree to which occupancy level and wealth can be used to infer peak demand behavior.