Firms and households during the pandemic: what do we learn from their electricity consumption?

Firms and households during the pandemic: what do we learn from their electricity consumption?

Series: Occasional Papers. 2031.

Author: Olympia Bover, Natalia Fabra, Sandra García-Uribe, Aitor Lacuesta and Roberto Ramos.

Published in: The Energy Journal, Volume 44, Issue 3, May 2023Opens in new window

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Firms and households during the pandemic: what do we learn from their electricity consumption? (2 MB)

Abstract

We analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on electricity consumption patterns in Spain. 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, 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. 

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