Firms and Households during the Pandemic: What Do We Learn from Their Electricity Consumption?

Abstract

We analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on electricity consumption patterns. We highlight the importance of decomposing total electricity consumption into consumption by firms and by households to better understand the economic and social impacts of the crisis. While electricity demand by firms has fallen substantially, the demand by households has gone up. In particular, our focus is on Spain where, during the total lockdown, these effects reached −29% and +10% respectively, controlling for temperature and seasonality. While the electricity demand reductions during the second wave were milder, the demand by firms remained 5% below its normal levels. We also document a change in people's daily routines in response to the stringency of the lockdown measures, as reflected in their hourly electricity consumption patterns.

Assessing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Electricity Consumption: A Machine Learning Approach

“…While some studies have acknowledged that factors such as "holidays" may introduce certain disturbances to the analytical results, they have not undertaken a thorough investigation [29]. Furthermore, multiple research findings consistently indicate that the electricity consumption of businesses has been significantly affected, showing a declining trend, whereas residential electricity consumption exhibits an increasing trend [11] [41], aligning closely with our study results. Additionally, some studies have employed a method of comparing electricity consumption in 2020 under non-pandemic conditions with actual electricity consumption, revealing a significant decrease in electricity consumption due to the pandemic [21].…”

“…In addition to the enormous loss of life, the pandemic has presented significant challenges to the energy system [11]. This is because governments worldwide have implemented stringent containment measures such as lockdowns and social distancing to mitigate the spread and minimize the impact of the pandemic [12].…”

Heterogeneous Effects of Government Energy Assistance Programs:Covid-19 Lockdowns in the Republic of Georgia

“…The free electricity policy results in a 5% increase in electricity consumption during the lockdowns, which is modest when compared to estimates from the US (10% nationwide and 16% in Texas: Cicala, 2020) and Spain (9%, see Bover et al, 2023). This figure however masks considerable heterogeneity across environments.…”