Shedding Light
Overloaded electrical systems are a major source of unreliable power (outages) in developing countries. Using a randomized saturation design, we estimate the impact of energy efficient lightbulbs on household electricity consumption and local electricity reliability in the Kyrgyz Republic. Receiving compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) significantly reduced household electricity consumption. Estimates not controlling for spillovers in take-up underestimate the impacts of the CFLs, as control households near the treated are likely to take-up CFLs themselves. Greater saturation of CFLs within a transformer leads to aggregate reliability impacts of two fewer days per month without electricity due to unplanned outages relative to pure controls. Increased electricity reliability permits households to consume more electricity services, suggesting that CFL treatment results in technological externalities. The spillovers in take-up and technological externalities may provide an additional explanation for the gap between empirical and engineering estimates of the impacts of energy efficient technologies.
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Working Paper biblioteca |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016-11
|
| Subjects: | energy efficiency, electricity, reliability, externalities, outages, fluorescent lamps, energy consumption, |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/728451479218411926/Shedding-light-understanding-energy-efficiency-and-electricity-reliability https://hdl.handle.net/10986/25693 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Overloaded electrical systems are a
major source of unreliable power (outages) in developing
countries. Using a randomized saturation design, we estimate
the impact of energy efficient lightbulbs on household
electricity consumption and local electricity reliability in
the Kyrgyz Republic. Receiving compact fluorescent lamps
(CFLs) significantly reduced household electricity
consumption. Estimates not controlling for spillovers in
take-up underestimate the impacts of the CFLs, as control
households near the treated are likely to take-up CFLs
themselves. Greater saturation of CFLs within a transformer
leads to aggregate reliability impacts of two fewer days per
month without electricity due to unplanned outages relative
to pure controls. Increased electricity reliability permits
households to consume more electricity services, suggesting
that CFL treatment results in technological externalities.
The spillovers in take-up and technological externalities
may provide an additional explanation for the gap between
empirical and engineering estimates of the impacts of energy
efficient technologies. |
|---|