Flexibility of electricity demand is often seen as critical for balancing the grid when consumption is high and when there are drops in supply from renewables. The benefits of demand side flexibility include improving balancing with renewables; reducing the costs of electricity generation; and making the most of smart systems and battery storage. But is flexibility a win-win for everyone, including end-users? In this talk, Jacopo Torriti seeks to address this question by presenting an investigation of people’s activities and how these underpin peaks and drops in demand.