When does daylight saving time save electricity? Weather and air-conditioning

Abstract Previous research on the effects of daylight saving time (DST) on electricity consumption has provided mixed results. We use daily state-level panel data on electricity consumption in Australia between 1998 and 2015, during which period there was considerable variation in the presence and timing of DST implementation, as well as in weather conditions and cooling usage within and between states. This provides us with a unique opportunity to study the interaction effects of DST with exogenous variation in daily weather conditions and cooling usage over two decades. Our results show that the effect of DST on electricity consumption depends strongly on weather conditions and cooling usage. Forward DST increases the electricity consumption when temperatures and air conditioner ownership are higher. We provide simulations for countries in the European Union that need to decide on DST adoption in the coming year. Our findings are policy-relevant given rising temperatures and worldwide increases in cooling usage during summer.

• Publication year

  2021

• Venue

  Energy Economics

• Publication date

  2021-03-17

• Fields of study

  Economics, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/J.ENECO.2021.105216
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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