Outage-induced power backup choice in Pakistan

Abstract

Like in many other developing countries, power outages are prevalent in Pakistan. Consumers are compelled to explore alternative energy strategies when the overhead of the outage surpasses that of implementing a backup plan. Inverters, small generators, and solar energy systems (SESs) are among the common backup options. This study utilizes primary data collected from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to delve into the factors influencing consumers' perception-based choices regarding backup solutions. To account for various backup choices, we employ multinomial logistic regression techniques on a sample of 952 households. Our analysis reveals that perception-based variables, such as electricity theft and decreasing satisfaction, negatively impact the likelihood of selecting off-grid renewable options like solar technology. Moreover, we observe that consumers residing in rented houses prefer inverters and generators, while homeownership significantly influences the adoption of all three backup choices. Interestingly, the rural-urban location of the household does not influence the decision to opt for a SES. These findings carry important policy implications for energy-deficient regions. The transition towards solar energy is driven by the household's strategy to ensure uninterrupted energy backup while simultaneously reducing the cost of electricity consumption.