Influence of Socio-Economic Indicators on Electricity Consumption of Low Voltage Customers in Cameroon

Abstract

In this paper, the demand of Low Voltage electricity customers in Cameroon using electricity as an energy source beginning from the period 1975 to 2011 is modeled. This approach aims to study the consumption determinants (macro- economic indicators, demographic indicators and lagged consumption of low voltage electricity) of low Voltage Customers and to analyze those determinants that have a strong influence on consumption. Parameters estimated by EVIEWS 7.2 software for linear and exponential (CooB-Douglas) models were used. The results show that CooB-Douglass models are better than the linear model. It also shows that: (i) the best linear model is a function of delayed consumption〖 C〗_(t-1) ; overall gross domestic product ((〖GDP_g)〗_t) and population (P_t ); (ii) the best model CooB-Douglas is a function of delayed consumption〖 C〗_(t-1) , the global gross domestic product ((〖GDP_g)〗_t) and the number of subscribers (S_t). It noticed that the macroeconomic indicators have a better influence on demographic consumer’s indicators and that the absence of the delayed consumption variable in a model causes autocorrelation of the residuals models.