Effects of the Human-Mobility Change during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Electricity Demand

Abstract

This study investigated how the changes in the number of people’s visits to various locations during the COVID-19 pandemic influenced electricity demand. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, the study reveals that while an increase in visits to groceries, pharmacies stores, and transit stations increased electricity demand, an increase in the hours people spent at home had a negative impact on the demand during the period of the state of emergency (SOE). This study also demonstrates the differences in the effects of human-mobility changes on electricity demand among different SOE periods, which was probably related to the weakening in the effect of the SOE measures as people became accustomed to the SOE announcements. As the energy transition unfolds across the world, ensuring the optimization of integrated energy systems has never been more important; thus, the current study suggests that controlling human mobility could be one of the options through which policymakers could intervene in the energy-demand sector.

Japanese Economic Performance after the Pandemic: A Sectoral Analysis

“…Panel 23 shows the retail food sector and Panel 24 shows Shimano, a leading bicycle parts maker. Retail foods performed well in 2020, reflecting Aruga's (2022) finding that there was only a small decrease in visits to grocery stores during the states of emergency.…”

“…It then imposed three more SOEs in 2021. Aruga (2021Aruga ( , 2022 reported results from Google mobility data indicating that there were large declines in visits to retail (e.g., restaurants, cafes, shopping centers, and movie theaters), public transit, and workplace locations during the SOE periods. By contrast, these data point to only small decreases in visits to grocery stores and pharmacies and large increases in time spent at home.…”