Towards an understanding of residential electricity consumption in India

This article examines the empirical relationship between electricity consumption, economic growth, energy prices and technology development for India by taking annual time series data from 1981 to 2017. By using the ARDL bounds testing approach to co-integration, the study found long-run equilibrium relationship does exist among the variables. The article reports the existence of positive and significant impact of economic growth on electricity consumption, whereas technological development negatively affects electricity consumption in both the long run and short run. The Granger causality results reveal the presence of unidirectional causality from economic growth and technological development to electricity consumption in India. Therefore, the present study suggests policy makers in India to increase investment in electricity infrastructure to support high economic growth in the country. Further, the policy makers and the government should encourage more technological innovation to minimise usage of fossil fuels and support the use of green energy. This action could help the economy achieve a sustainable economic growth with better environmental quality. JEL Codes: C22, O4, O13, Q43, Q48

Towards sustainable development: The impact of transport infrastructure expenditure on the ecological footprint in India

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether remittance inflow stimulate electricity consumption in India with other macroeconomic variables such as FDI, trade openness and urbanization in energy demand function from 1975–2017.Design/methodology/approachWe have applied structural break and co-integration tests for stationarity and long-run relationship between the variables. The Toda–Yamamatoo causality is employed for investigation of causal relationship between the variables, and robustness of causality linkages is also tested by applying innovative accounting approach (IAA).FindingsOur empirical analysis shows there is presence of long-run relationship among the variables. We find that remittance inflows stimulate electricity consumption in India. Industrialization is positively linked with electricity demand. However, trade openness declines the electricity consumption, but urbanization increases it. Furthermore, remittances inflows cause electricity consumption.Originality/valueOn the basis of findings, we conclude that due to positive impacts of remittances inflows, trade openness and urbanization, policymakers in the Indian economy need to be careful while designing sustainable environment policy. Otherwise, any sustainable environment policy in the name of protecting green environment will hamper the growth of remittance inflows, urbanization and FDI. If this exists, it may be argued that sustainable growth in India will not be possible in the face of sustainable environment policy.

Access and availability of modern energy resources such as electricity are crucial for the quality of life. The present study traces the contours of inequality of access to electricity and its consumption at the household level using the data from population census of 2001 and 2011 and three different survey rounds of the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), respectively. While the census data allow us to map the contours of inequality spatially, the panel data from the NSSO surveys allow us to trace this inequality among different groups by economic deciles within and across states. It is pertinent to mention that the electricity consumption at the household level and the economic prosperity as inferred from average monthly per capita expenditure (AMPCE) shows a significantly robust log-linear relationship. The study explores inter- and intra-state inequality in residential electricity consumption and the spatio-temporal transition of the Gini coefficient across the states. The timeseries data bring out two major concerns—the persistence of inequality within and across the states and the significant uneven consumption between the top and bottom deciles. This opens up different pathways for moving towards a regime of better electricity access and low inequality and insights to policy.

Modern economies are centered on electricity, which is also contributing to an increasing amount of energy services. As a result of increased household incomes, electrification of transport and rising demand for digital connected devices and air conditioning, there will be a rise in the need for energy. Residential electricity consumption in India has tripled over the past few decades with houses having access to uninterrupted power supply. This study is conducted in order to understand the determinants of electricity consumption such as income, family size, stock of electrical appliances, size of dwellings and their influence on consumer’s electricity consumption. It also seeks to examine if the consumers are willing to reduce their electricity consumption and are interested in shifting to renewable energy resources considering the costs involved in shifting to more sustainable energies. Due to the nature of power, which is invisible from the moment it was discovered, as well as consumer attitudes and behavior, saving electricity may appear to be a challenging undertaking. However, if the consumer acquires a basic understanding of what electricity is, how it is utilized, and, more significantly, how energy is wasted, the problem might become very simple. This will make consumers more aware of wasteful electricity use and perhaps encourage them to modify their daily consumption of electricity.

Architectural, Demographic, and Economic Causes of Electricity Consumption in Bombay

The residential sector accounts for around 24% of the total electricity consumption in India. Recent studies show that air conditioners (ACs) have become a significant contributor to residential electricity consumption. Further, it is predicted that by 2037, the demand for ACs will increase by four times due to their affordability and availability. Not many studies have been found on residential AC usage patterns and the factors (AC load, setpoint, hours of usage) that influence household electricity consumption. This paper investigates the residential AC usage patterns and AC’s contribution to total residential electricity consumption. Twenty-five urban homes from a wet and dry climatic region of India were monitored for nine months (in 2019) to determine overall household electricity consumption patterns, AC usage, and indoor environment during summer, monsoon, and winter. Analysis of seasonal consumption patterns shows a significant difference in electricity usage between homes with ACs and homes without ACs during the summer season. The average electricity consumption for AC homes was 15.1 kWh/day during summer, 6.6 kWh/day during monsoon, and 6.1 kWh/day during the winter season. Results showed that AC alone contributed to 39% of the total household consumption in summers. The peak AC usage in all homes is observed during sleep hours which was generally between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am and the average AC runtime was 6.2 h. The average indoor temperature was recorded as 26.9 °C during the AC ON period. The AC peak load, i.e., the maximum electricity demand during the AC ON period, is 1.7 kW on average during the study period. The average annual consumption of homes with ACs was 2881 kWh, and for non-AC homes, the consumption was 2230 kWh. Findings from our analysis provide a detailed understanding of AC consumption profiles and the difference in electricity consumption characteristics between AC and non-AC homes across different seasons.

Precise electricity forecasting is a pertinent challenge in effectively controlling the supply and demand of power. This is due to the inherent volatility of electricity, which cannot be stored and must be utilised promptly. Thus, this study develops a framework integrating canonical cointegrating regressions (CCR), time series artificial neural network (ANN) and a multilayer perceptron ANN model for analysing and projecting India's gross electricity consumption to 2030. Annual data for the years 1961–2020 have been collected for variables like gross domestic product (GDP), population, inflation GDP deflator (annual %), annual average temperature and electricity consumption. The study was conducted in three phases. In the first phase of the study, the CCR method was used to check the significance of the selected variables. In the second phase, the projected values of independent variables (GDP, population, inflation GDP deflator [annual %] and annual average temperature) were predicted using the time series ANN model. Finally, a multilayer perceptron ANN model with independent variables was used to forecast the gross electricity consumption in India by 2030. The result shows that the electricity consumption in India will increase by around 50% in the next 10 years, reaching over 1800 TWh in 2030. The proposed approach can be utilised to effectively implement energy policies, as an accurate prediction of energy consumption can help capture future demand.

This paper attempts to re-examine the relationship between economic growth and electricity consumption in India for the period 1971-72 – 2016-17 for the country as a whole and for the agricultural and industrial sectors separately. Using gross value added (GVA) and per capita net national product (NNP) as indicators of economic growth techniques like cointegration, error correction model and Granger causality tests are applied for the study. The results indicate that there is a long run positive relationship between economic growth and electricity consumption when GVA is the indicator of growth. However, the short run coefficients are not statistically significant. Per capita NNP does not have any long run relationship with per capita electricity consumption but there is a unidirectional Granger-cause from log per capita NNP to log per capita electricity consumption when lag length is three. There is unidirectional Granger-causality from log GVA to log electricity consumption in the agricultural sector also. For the industrial sector, however, neither variable Granger causes the other. The cross section analysis for thirty two states and union territories of India reveals that per capita net state domestic product (NSDP) positively and significantly affects per capita electricity consumption of states in each of the years from 2012-13 to 2016-17. But the responsiveness of electricity consumption with respect to NSDP declines over the years.

The reasons behind growth in middle class household electricity consumption in India are examined, where household appliances are rapidly taking a place in home cooking, cleaning and cooling consumption. The resulting electricity demand comes with high environmental costs, both locally and globally, since the electricity fuel of choice in India is coal, which is plentiful. The analysis, based on ethnographic research in the Kerala capital city Trivandrum, examines changes in home consumption practices and relates them to political and social changes in India, especially in Kerala, over the past decades. The research demonstrates how an understanding of gender relations; family and household structures; work migration in cross-national ethnoscapes; and changes in India’s political relationship to global markets and globalising media are all important to the theorising of changing energy consumption. An important finding is that women are indirectly responsible for increasing consumption as home appliances are purchased to alleviate time pressure. Social performance is also contributing to changing consumption; the purchase of household appliances is not only a sign of ‘getting ahead’ but also of ‘keeping up’ with rapidly changing consumption norms.

Potential benefits from improved energy efficiency of key electrical products: The case of India

Televisions (TVs) account for a significant portion of residential appliance electricity consumption in India, and TV shipments in India are expected to continue to increase. We assess the market trends in the energy efficiency of TVs that are likely to occur without any additional policy intervention and estimate that TV efficiency will likely improve with saving potential of 6 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year in 2020, compared to today’s technology. We discuss various energy-efficiency improvement options and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of three of them, at least one of which improves efficiency by at least 20 % cost-effectively beyond these ongoing market trends. We provide insights for policies and programs that can be used to accelerate the adoption of efficient technologies to capture the cost-effective energy savings potential from TVs which we estimate to be 3.4 TWh per year in 2020.

India is one of the largest producer and consumer of electricity in the world owing to being one of the most populous country in the world signifying the demand for electricity is only set to grow further. World has witnessed an era of economic growth aided pertinently by electricity consumption and growing demand. With FDI indorsed downright to this vital utilities sector, it becomes imperative to cognize the relationship of Electricity Consumption, Economic Growth and FDI in India. In this study we investigate the causal direction of relationship among Foreign Direct Investment, Electricity Consumption and Economic Growth in India by using time-series data for the period 1986–2021 and employing econometric models. We find two uni-directional causalities running from Electricity Consumption to Economic Growth and Economic Growth to FDI and a bi-directional causality between Electricity Consumption and FDI. The results of the study provide a novel perspective for policy makers while formulating policies related to the power sector and foreign direct investments in India. The focus of Policy makers should be on enabling electricity service providers to offer best services to commercial and non-commercial participants as it aids in Economic growth of the country. For enhanced economic growth a country like India must have good and world-class infrastructure, efficient and effective regulatory mechanism equitable for all stakeholders, an improved living standard for people of all economic strata and a stable, healthy business friendly environment coupled with policy stability through stable government.

The paper explores the nexus between energy consumption (oil and electricity) and economic growth in the five SAARC countries over the period 1970-2006. Using cointegration and Error Correction Model (ECM), the paper finds a unidirectional short run and long run causality from oil consumption to economic growth in Bangladesh and Nepal, a unidirectional short run and long run causality from electricity consumption to economic growth in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a unidirectional short run and long run causality from economic growth to oil consumption in India and Sri Lanka, and a unidirectional causality from economic growth to electricity consumption in India and Nepal. It also finds the bidirectional causality between electricity consumption and economic growth in Bangladesh and between oil consumption and economic growth in Pakistan. The paper at the end suggests that energy and environmental policies should recognize the differences in the energy consumption-growth nexus in order to maintain sustainable economic growth in the region.

Energy is one of the important building blocks in human development and act as a key factor in determining the economic development of any country. To meeting the demands of a developing nation, Energy requirement in the Form of Coal, Gas, oil and most important Electricity is necessary. This paper attempts to present full picture of Indian energy sector which is growing rapidly. However since, resource allocation and growth in energy supply have failed to meet the demands exerted by the increasing population, rapid urbanization and growing economy. First we identify factor of energy shortage in India, forcing it to rely heavily on imports. Second we develop a multiple linear regression model which includes all independent variables (Population, Inflation, and GDP) to determine energy consumption in India. India is a developing economy. Energy requirement in India are basically electricity, oil, coal, biomass and gas. India’s energy-mix comprises both non-renewable (coal, lignite, petroleum and natural gas) and renewable energy sources (wind, solar, small hydro, biomass, cogeneration biogases etc.). Based on these model we give conclusion such that which independent variable (population, Inflation and GDP) is more impacting coal, oil, gas and electricity consumption in India as well as Current patterns of energy use and assumptions about future trends in economic activity, we constructed an activity driven model to forecast what would be the natural short term evolution of energy use in India for each end use segment by. Through analysis of current patterns of energy use, drivers of energy use were collected at the sub-sector level. We connected drivers of model with evolution of GDP to determine what would be the impact of economic growth on drivers of energy use. It also includes fuel or technology switching in the forecast.