Electricity Subsidies Research Articles

A Study of the Unexplored Aspect of Energy Poverty: Overheating Risk Analysis

Energy poverty, defined as the inability of households to afford adequate heating or cooling, is worsened by anthropogenic climate change, leading to increased energy demand and indoor comfort challenges. This study addresses a gap in summer fuel poverty research by focusing on overheating concerns and energy subsidies. This study defines the indoor temperature and overheating risk of low-income households compared with general dwellings based on field measurements and walkthrough surveys. The difference in indoor temperature and overheating risk according to the provision of energy subsidy is analyzed. We evaluate the impact of energy subsidies on indoor temperature and the adequacy of current subsidy programs. Findings show that households without energy vouchers experience indoor temperatures around 29°C, while voucher recipients see a 2°C decrease. During Tropical Night periods, households with energy vouchers maintain similar indoor temperatures to the overall period, while those without vouchers tend to experience a 2°C increase. Although energy vouchers significantly mitigate overheating risks by approximately 95% during the summer, they are not as effective in fully eliminating summer overheating risks compared to previous winter results. This highlights the persisting issue of traditional policies providing integrated electricity subsidies. Hence, addressing indoor overheating during hot summers requires improvements in alternative subsidy distributions or cooling strategies warrants change to the energy voucher payment method or the cooling method.

Unveiling the relation between household energy conservation and subjective well-being: Insights from structural equation modeling

Electricity is essential to Pakistan's economy and, it helps to improve the living standards of people. However, the state has long suffered from problems like imbalances in the supply of energy, excessive energy use, and frequent power outages. The present study focused on investigating the relationship between energy-saving behavior, consumption, and subjective well-being in households in urban areas of Punjab, Pakistan. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the research analyzed how different features of electricity use and energy-saving practices affect the quality of life for families in the region. According to research findings, a strong intention to save electricity is also linked to enhanced subjective well-being. When families have an intention toward conserving energy, they feel a more positive change in overall households' subjective well-being while electricity consumption which is measured in terms of electricity bills, negatively affects the household well-being. The current research concludes that some families can experience a financial benefit from lower energy bills, and others would need assistance switching to more environment-friendly energy habits. Governments must adopt price-control mechanisms and electricity subsidies for low-income groups to encourage ethical energy usage and well-being, while also undertaking awareness programs aimed at a varied audience.

Which decarbonization policy mixes are better for China's power sector? A simulation balancing aggregate abatement effects and economic impacts

The decarbonization policies are currently being planned or implemented worldwide, particularly for emerging economies such as China. When the government designs a preferred decarbonization policy mix, both environmental and economic impacts should be considered. This paper focuses on decarbonization policy mixes in China's power sector, including renewable electricity subsidies (ES), tradable green certificates (TGC), and two carbon pricing instruments. An integrated model combining a partial equilibrium model and an input-output framework was constructed to investigate their abatement effects and economic impacts. The results show that the combination of multiple decarbonization policies can achieve greater emission reduction or lower economic losses compared to implementing them separately. The mix of carbon pricing and TGC shows the least economic losses; the mix of carbon pricing, ES, and TGC achieves maximum abatement effect. A narrow focus on carbon emission reduction would hinder the economic development. The combination of multiple decarbonization policies can trigger more substantial variations in the supply chain of the power sector than their individual implementation. Those policy mixes including carbon tax may achieve lower carbon emissions and economic losses compared to those including a carbon emissions trading market. Therefore, policymakers should conduct a comprehensive simulation of the multiple impacts of policy mixes before implementing them, encompassing both direct impacts on the power sector and indirect impacts on its upstream sectors.

ASEAN Financing Climate Policy: The Effect of Fossil Fuel Subsidies on CPI and GHGs

Abstract The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) employs fossil fuel subsidies to promote economic development, although such action may have a negative effect on the environment. This study employs panel data analysis to examine whether ASEAN’s fossil fuel (oil, gas, coal, and electricity) subsidies decrease the consumer price index (CPI; Model 1) and, on the other hand, increase greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs; Model 2) from energy levels, using yearly data of five ASEAN countries from 2010 to 2021. The findings demonstrate that ASEAN’s fossil fuel subsidies for oil, gas, coal and electricity do not reduce the CPI and, therefore, cannot be interpreted as reducing inflation. In addition, there is no effect of gas and coal subsidies on GHGs. This might be due to the small average of the five ASEAN countries from 2010 to 2021 in terms of gas and coal subsidies. Following the expectation, oil subsidy, which is the highest amount on average (4,635.44 real 2021 million USD), has a strong positive effect on GHGs. However, electricity subsidy, which is the second highest amount on average (1,963.22 real 2021 million USD), has a significant negative effect on GHGs.

Electricity subsidies targeting performance indicators in selected Latin American countries

ABSTRACT This document calculates targeting performance indicators of electricity subsidies in Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay. To do this, beneficiary and benefit incidence indicators are calculated using official household survey data and administrative records on electricity tariffs. In addition, this paper calculates inclusion and exclusion errors in the targeting of electricity subsidies. The results show that the share of poor households that receive the subsidy is very large in Mexico, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. However, the distribution of the subsidy is regressive in absolute terms, which implies that most of every dollar spent on keeping electricity prices low will benefit the wealthiest households. This document also finds large inclusion errors suggesting that an important share of the non-poor is also benefiting from the subsidy. These results shed light on the evaluation of electricity subsidies in the region to improve targeting and optimisation of resources.

Do Energy Access and Climate Change Worsen Poverty in West Africa? Empirical Evidence using Panel Analysis

This study examined how access to energy and climate change affect poverty level in some selected West African countries. To achieve the objectives of this study, the researchers collected data on energy access, electricity generated, electricity consumed, price of electricity, climate change (carbon emission) and poverty index from the six selected countries. The selected six (6) countries in west Africa for the study are: Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone based on energy consumption and population size. The period covered by the study is 1995-2022. Both statistical and econometric techniques were adopted for the analysis of the data. Based on the analysis of the data using the Arellano-Bond two-step GMM Dynamic Panel econometric technique, some key empirical findings were made are: Volume of electricity generated had positive and insignificant impact on poverty index. This shows that volume of electricity generated as measure of energy access was not a significant predictor of poverty reduction among the selected west African countries during the period reviewed. Electricity consumed had a positive but insignificant impact on poverty index. This implies that electricity consumed was not a significant predictor of poverty rate among selected west African countries during the period reviewed. Access to electricity had a negative but insignificant impact on and poverty index. This implies that access to electricity was not a significant predictor of poverty reduction among selected countries in west African sub region during the period reviewed. Also, carbon emission as a proxy for climate change impacted negatively but insignificantly on poverty level. This implies that climate change was not a significant predictor of poverty eradication among selected west African countries during the period reviewed. Based on these findings the study recommended effective policies that will address electricity pricing, electricity subsidy and electricity metering in the selected west African countries as possible measures of eradicating poverty in the sub region.

Eligibility Study of Targeted Electricity Subsidies Using DBSCAN on 450 VA and 900 VA Households at PLN UP3 Bandung

PT PLN (Persero), a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE), is mandated by Law No. 30/2007 on Energy and Law No. 30/2009 on Electricity to provide subsidy funds for the poor. The objective of this study is to analyze eligibility criteria for electricity subsidy recipients for customers using 450 VA and 900 VA power groups, to target the electricity subsidy program better. The data used is postpaid customer data from UP3 Bandung in September 2023. The variables used are the amount of electricity consumption, the number of bills, late fees, installment fees, and 50 other variables. The method used in this research is DBScan Clustering which is applied to each power group. Within each group, we analyzed two normalized versions of the dataset standard version and the minmax version. Furthermore, to assess the optimal clustering results, we integrated various metrics, including the Davies-Bouldin Index and Silhouette Score with visual assessment. After that, the best factor suggestions were sought through decision trees, by performing different decision tree classifiers for each power group, using normalized versions of cluster labels. The results showed that among the 50 features available in the raw dataset, it was successful in identifying key features, such as late fees, installment fees, electricity consumption, and bill charges to be important criteria

The evolutionary analysis of investment in CCS-EOR under dual carbon target—From the perspective of multi-agent involvement

Carbon capture and storage with enhanced oil recovery (CCS-EOR) technology plays a crucial role in achieving dual carbon targets in China. And the rapid diffusion of technology requires collaboration among various stakeholders involved in industrial chain of CCS-EOR project and then it will cause conflict of interest among the participants. In order to solve the problem existing in CCS-EOR promotion and propel the rapid deployment of low-carbon technology in China, the paper constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model by incorporating the strategic choices of coal-fired power plants, oilfield enterprises and governments into the framework, explores the respective dynamic evolutionary path of three parties and analyzes the impact of each parameter change on the system evolution results Through the numerical simulation, the paper identifies the optimal evolutionary path to spur the application of CCS-EOR and determine their strategy choices of three involved subjects in the game framework. Based on the sensitivity analysis, results are given as follows: (1) The government's clean electricity subsidy and carbon utilization subsidy have pushed the timing of CCS retrofitting significantly forward, but the initial investment subsidy has little impact on it; (2) Under the cooperation mode of coal-fired power plants and oilfield enterprises, the optimal cost-sharing ratio of the initial investment for coal-fired power plants is about 0.4 to promote both sides to reach cooperation faster. Once it exceeds 0.4, the probability of cooperation between them will be significantly reduced; (3) The carbon tax policy effectively propels the development of CCS-EOR technology. When the carbon tax rises from 30 CNY/t to 120CNY/t, power plants will conduct CCS retrofitting investment two years in advance.

A novel temporal mixed-integer market penetration model for cost-effective uptake of electric boilers in the UK chemical industry

The UK chemical industry is the largest consumer of natural gas for process heating and power generation, with an annual consumption of 26.3 TWh. Reduction in natural gas consumption and associated carbon emissions can be achieved through electrification of heat. However, the adoption of electric boilers is lethargic due to economic barriers. Hence, market-based policy interventions are required. This study aims to accelerate the adoption of electric boilers in the UK's chemical industry, aligning with the UK's ambitious 2035 industrial decarbonisation goals while considering economic impacts, by designing market-based policy interventions and comparing two adoption patterns. A novel multi-period Mixed-Integer Market Penetration Optimisation Model is developed and applied to inform decisions about transitioning from natural gas to electric boilers. The model is applied to a case study of all the heating systems (490 boilers) in the UK chemical industry from 1 MW to 60 MW boilers. Results show that effectively implementing a gas tax, electricity subsidy, annual grant and carbon tax can generate sufficient demand-pull to reduce the cost of electric boilers from 30 to 85 % depending on the boiler size. A carbon tax starting at £280 per tCO2e and reducing to £170 per tCO2e coupled with electricity subsidies is essential for this transition. The policies are designed such that a win-win is achieved between government and industry; specifically, revenue from the carbon tax and gas tax is used to support the grant and electricity subsidy thereby achieving cost neutrality for government. At 100 % uptake of electric boilers in 2033, the total carbon emissions reduce by 89 %, which is above the 2035 UK industry goal of 60 % reduction. The research establishes a robust policy timeline that can drive industrial electrification in the UK's chemical sector. It highlights the need for a multi-faceted approach, incorporating various policy instruments to overcome the barriers of high initial capital costs.

Classification of Receiving Electricity Subsidy Assistance in Blang Panyang Village Using the K-NN (K-Nearest Neighbor) Method

The electricity subsidy program is one of the poverty reduction programs by providing electricity subsidy assistance funds to poor and disadvantaged households paid by the Government of Indonesia to PT PLN (Persero). The government implements a targeted electricity subsidy policy, the subsidy must be truly enjoyed by the poor. The purpose of this research is to test the K-Nearest Neighbors algorithm in predicting the receipt of electricity subsidy assistance. In the dataset of beneficiaries used in this study, there are 45 records or tuples with four attributes (house condition, income, occupation and number of amperes). The prediction of new data categories is done by using the manual calculation stage of Euclidean Distance from three different K values. The results show that with K=15, K=30 and K=45 the new data (46) has an "Ineligible" category with an accuracy rate of 100%. Then with K=45, K=30 and K=45 the new data (D46) has a "Viable" category with an accuracy rate of 66.6%.

The Economic Impact of Natural Gas and Electricity Subsidy Reforms in Bangladesh

The Economic Impact of Natural Gas and Electricity Subsidy Reforms in Bangladesh

The distributional impact of fiscal measures to compensate for consumer inflation in Greece in 2022

This paper analyses the distributional implications of consumer inflation in Greece and of the fiscal measures adopted to cushion its adverse impact on households in 2022. The analysis employs the tax-benefit microsimulation model for the European Union (EUROMOD) to study how inflation, income support measures, as well as measures aimed at containing prices affected households’ purchasing power and welfare across the income distribution. The study confirms that the purchasing power of lower-income households was more severely affected by the 2022 inflation surge than that of higher-income households, resulting in the so-called inflation gap. The unequal impact of inflation was further magnified by the high shares of consumption in the income of the poorer, resulting in a welfare loss differential of 9.2 percentage points between the bottom and the top income decile. The adverse distributional impact of the inflationary shock was largely offset by government policies, with a welfare loss of only 2.9% remaining for the population as a whole. Fiscal measures were shown to close the inflation gap and mitigated the welfare loss differential between the poor and the rich to just 0.7 percentage points. Price measures were dominant vis-à-vis their income counterparts in compensating for welfare losses across the income distribution and, most interestingly, had a significant progressive impact largely driven by the electricity subsidy, as the support provided was inversely related to consumption. However, given that they were not as well-targeted to low-income households, they were relatively cost-inefficient when compared with income measures. Nonetheless, the efficiency advantage of income measures may be severely undermined in the presence of extensive tax evasion, which points not only to the need for a careful design of targeted measures, but also to complementarities with structural reforms fighting tax evasion.

Identifying effective incentive policies for promoting widespread adoption of shore power technology

Shore power (SP) is a key technology to reduce emissions in a port. The deployment of SP has faced a significant challenge due to its high management costs. This study aims to compare various incentive policies that can promote SP from the perspectives of pollutant penalty, berth allocation, construction subsidy, electricity subsidy, and their combinations. To identify effective incentive policies for wide use of SP from both sides, this paper develops a cost-minimizing nonlinear mixed-integer programming model. The model optimizes decisions regarding SP deployment, berth allocation, and ship service sorting simultaneously. The performance of these incentive policies is evaluated in a bulk terminal scenario. Sensitivity analysis of key parameters was conducted to examine the impact of policies. The results show that all the proposed policies can effectively promote SP use and emissions reduction. Policymakers are recommended to implement a mixed incentive policy instead of a single incentive policy.

Fossil gas lock-in risks: analysis of Algeria’s electricity sector and implications for a renewable energy transition

Algeria's electricity sector is dependent on fossil gas. Domestic gas demand is growing, and gas-fired power plants are projected to make up 84% of total installed capacity by 2028. This brings the country into a Sustainability Nexus dilemma: on the one hand, Algeria is committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts of the gas sector, whereas on the other hand, the energy and export revenue derived from gas would need to be substituted in order to ensure social and economic development in the country. Socioeconomic tradeoffs and alternatives must therefore be understood and managed in a way that ensures continued political and public support for the country's energy transition and fossil fuel exit. This paper aims to (a) identify fossil gas lock-in factors and (b) explore the opportunities to overcome these obstacles in order to facilitate a transition into renewable energy. Using a deductive approach, we draw on theoretical assumptions regarding carbon lock-in theory and the 2020 framework of Trencher et al. to study (1) technological and infrastructural conditions, (2) actors and agency, (3) formal and informal institutions, knowledge and competences, and (4) exogenous context. Between November 2021 and March 2022, a total of 23 semi-structured interviews were conducted in Algeria with stakeholders from the government, power and industry organizations, civil society organizations, and scientific institutions. The interview transcripts were then thematically analyzed to get a picture of recurrent themes and patterns. Our analysis identified several factors contributing to the fossil gas lock-in in Algeria's electricity system: economic dependence on oil and fossil gas; the significant influence of oil and gas actors, and the governmental support for fossil gas; gas and electricity subsidies, which lock out all other energy alternatives; and an overall lack of attention to climate change in energy policy formulation and in political and societal debate, despite the major capacity expansion plans prompted by heatwaves. The paper ends with a brief discussion of how Algeria's gas lock-in may worsen due to the war in Ukraine.

Innovation in Complaints about Targeted Electricity Subsidy Participation in the Context of Improving Public Services

In order to improve the quality of public services, one of the efforts made by the government is to make a new breakthrough through the targeted electricity subsidy complaint application (PEDULI). This research aims to analyze innovations in improving public services using the mobile-based PEDULI application. This research uses 5 (five) innovation indicators according to Rogers, namely relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, triability, and observability which are used to analyze improvements in public services, in this case the targeted electricity subsidy complaint service through the mobile-based PEDULI application. This research uses post-positivism methods which are carried out using data collection techniques using in-depth interviews, observation and documentation studies. Based on the research, the results show that in mobile-based public service innovation complaints about targeted electricity subsidies (PEDULI) have experienced a good increase and have met the public's need to make complaints regarding targeted electricity subsidy membership.

A clean optimization approach for sustainable waste-to-energy using integrated technology

In this study, we propose an innovative approach to regulate municipal solid waste (MSW) resource utilization and renewable energy conversion. Under the concept of circular economy, clean anaerobic digestion (AD) and gasification are combined to form integrated technology to achieve sustainable waste-to-energy. A matched multi-objective optimization model is developed to balance the economic and environmental benefits during the waste-to-energy process under uncertainty. Robust optimization is used to produce optimal solutions that are feasible even in the worst-case scenario in terms of uncertain parameters. The practicality of the proposed methodology is tested in a real-world case, and it is found that utilizing integrated technology can effectively carry out MSW resource utilization while also obtaining ample renewable energy. Robust optimization is used to conduct scenario analyses on the fluctuation interval of the uncertain electricity subsidy in order to assess its impact on the model solutions. It was found that the cost and carbon emission objectives were highly sensitive to changes in electricity subsidy. Although AD has been the primary technology used for waste-to-energy, the use of gasification in integrated technology has been increasing. While the treatment plans of various MSW types were different, there were still some commonalities.

Documenting and Analyzing Targeted Interventions of State Fishery Department of Andhra Pradesh, India

Aims: Though Andhra Pradesh acts as an aquaculture hub, several targeted interventions were implemented by the State Fishery Department of Andhra Pradesh for the benefit of farmers. But lack of awareness among the fish farmers about these interventions leads to severe economic loss. Hence, this study aims to document and describe the interventions implemented by the Andhra Pradesh Fisheries Department which helps the fish farmers to make well-informed decisions.
 Study Design: Descriptive study design was used to describe the purpose of documented interventions
 Place and Duration of Study: Interventions provided by State Fishery Department of Andhra Pradesh for fish farmers were documented from Fish Development Officers during March 2023.
 Methodology: The study collects data from various sources, including fish development officers, government reports, and other publications to document the interventions provided by Fisheries department of Andhra Pradesh. Focus Group Discussion was conducted with the fish development officers to critically analyze these interventions.
 Results: The interventions can be categorized into five broad categories; which were, fisheries inputs, infrastructure, capacity-building programs, financial assistance, and others/ miscellaneous. Under fisheries inputs; fish seed, fish feed and aerators were given. Infrastructural interventions such as feed analysis, water analysis, soil analysis, microbial analysis, PCR, fish hatchery units, fish processing units, mobile aqua labs, fish kiosks, Fish Andhra Fit Andhra, Traditional fish farming implements were provided. Simultaneously, capacity building programmes like training, demonstration, workshops, FFPO, extensive awareness programmes, training for other interns and other professionals were also conducted. Financial assistance was provided through KCC, YSR pension kanuka scheme, Electricity subsidy, Matya Kara Barosa and other facilities like licensing, assistance to new fish farmers were also carried out.
 Conclusion: Interventions of State Fisheries department was classified into five categories for better understanding and to make effective use of the interventions by the farmers. Lack of awareness about the interventions lead to severe economic loss among fish farmers. Hence, this study aims to address the information gap and empower the stakeholder through proper documentation of fisheries interventions by State Government which enables the fish farmers to make well-informed decisions.

On the welfare effect of retail electricity subsidy in Vietnam

PurposeThis research investigates how subsidy programs in Vietnam's residential electricity market affect consumers' well-being.Design/methodology/approachTwo perspectives are employed: cash transfer and quantity-based subsidy. The effectiveness of cash transfer is measured in three ways: benefit incidence, beneficiary incidence and materiality. The quantity-based subsidy is established under the increasing block rate pricing, with the first two block rates being lower than the marginal cost. To improve the quantity-based subsidy, the research examines the consumer surplus under four proposals.FindingsThe results show that both types of subsidies are ineffective in supporting the poor.Research limitations/implicationsIn order to achieve a more equal distribution among households, the subsidy program should remove all subsidized blocks and reflect the full marginal cost. Changes should be made to the price structure regarding both marginal price and intervals.Practical implicationsTo mitigate the impact of the quantity-based subsidy, the government should improve the cash transfer by reducing extortion and improving targeting efficiency, especially for poor households living in rented houses.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to discuss the welfare effect of the electricity subsidy in Vietnam. First, it comprehensively evaluates the cash transfer subsidy in Vietnam. Second, it suggests a modification in the residential electricity tariff.

How much can electric aircraft contribute to reaching the Flightpath 2050 CO2 emissions goal? A system dynamics approach for european short haul flights

In 2012, the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) introduced Flightpath 2050 defining the emission reduction targets for the aviation industry in the EU. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of narrow body electric aircraft for short haul flights on reaching the Flightpath 2050 CO2 emissions goal using different policy scenarios within the EU. We develop a system dynamics model of the air transport system (ATS), consisting of the interaction between three major segments, namely air travel demand, airline industry and aircraft manufacturers. The model is run for the time period from 1991 to 2050, where electric aircraft are introduced in the year 2035. We simulate the behavior of the ATS under different policy scenarios, e.g., introduction of jet fuel tax, electricity subsidy, seat tax or fleet restriction policy, to test their influence on electric aircraft adoption rates. The results of the analysis suggest that most of the individual policies when implemented are not enough to reach the Flightpath 2050 CO2 emissions goal. Furthermore, a strong set of policy combination was required to reach the goal. Specifically, the combination of an electricity subsidy with kerosene tax demonstrates a higher electric aircraft adoption rate than that of other combinations. On the other hand, sensitivity analysis shows that combinations with electricity subsidy display higher volatility in the CO2 emissions interval. The main reason for this sensitivity is due to the uncertainty in cost pertaining to electric aircraft development parameters.

Tripartite Evolutionary Game of Power Generation Enterprises’ Green Transformation under the Responsibility Assessment of Renewable Energy Consumption in China

Under the requirements of a low carbon economy, promoting the transition of energy consumption of power generation enterprises from fossil energy to renewable energy is essential in practicing carbon emission reduction. Taking China as an example, this study investigates the impact of the interactive behavior of central and local governments in fulfilling their green obligations on the green transformation of power generation enterprises by constructing a tripartite evolutionary game model. The main findings of this paper are as follows: (i) Under the trend of reducing subsidies for renewable electricity, if local governments fail to fulfill their regulatory obligations for renewable energy consumption on time, it will discourage power generation enterprises from using renewable electricity; in the short term, it will cause power generation enterprises to turn their backs on green power strategy and choose thermal power strategy. (ii) If the central government releases a strong signal of a considerable amount of renewable energy power subsidy, the local government’s enthusiasm for fulfilling the renewable energy consumption supervision obligations will be hurt. (iii) The practical implementation of the responsibility assessment system of renewable energy consumption requires mobilizing all relevant stakeholders in the renewable energy market. It is essential to motivate local governments to fulfill their renewable energy consumption regulation obligation. This study provides a policy analysis for the green transformation of Chinese power generation enterprises and a reference for the green transformation of enterprises in other developing countries.