Prime-time access for whom? Rhythms fairness and the dynamic pricing of infrastructure services

In this paper, we approach a fair and inclusive transition to a circular economy from a perspective of daily rhythms and illustrate these concepts using examples from the electricity and transport sectors. The circular economy discourse endorses sharing and efficiently using capital assets. To be effective, such strategies further need to manage the timing of demand. Dynamic pricing is frequently used to manage, for example, the demand for electricity services and to match demand with the capacity of production. Congestion charges for road usage similarly aim to shape peak demand. The economic and environmental benefits of these schemes have been demonstrated, but the social consequences remain underexplored. Dynamic prices forge new everyday rhythms and contribute to “shift consumption” by limited access during peak demand. We inquire whether, and to what extent, the existing schemes of dynamic pricing consider issues of equality, equity and fairness when offering time-dependent and dynamic tariffs, and highlight the policy implications of promoting a circular economy with effective and more socially just management of the timing of demand.