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Regional Differences in the Price-Elasticity of Demand For Energy
The Department of Energy has a series of programs intended to spur development and adoption of energy-efficient technologies. This report examines how trends in the energy market may vary at the state and regional levels, and how price-elasticity of demand (a measure of how demand responds to price), varies at the national, regional, state, and utility levels. To determine if regional, state, or sub-state characteristics could affect the size of the impact of energy-efficient technologies on energy prices, supply, and consumption, it is necessary to examine how individual factors-such as climate, supply constraints, energy costs, and demand for natural gas-might affect the extent of this impact. Three energy-demand components are addressed in this report: electricity use in the residential sector, natural gas use in the residential sector, and electricity use in the commercial sector. The goal of this research is to determine whether state- and regional-level differences were significant enough to recommend to the Department of Energy the disaggregation of data by state or region when estimating the potential benefits of energy-efficient technologies.
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Contents
Chapter One:
Introduction
Chapter Two:
Economic Theory, Literature, and Methodological Approach
Chapter Three:
National-Level Results
Chapter Four:
Regional Results
Chapter Five:
State-Level Analysis
Chapter Six:
Utility-Level Analysis
Chapter Seven:
Conclusions, Final Thoughts, and Implications of Analysis
The research described in this report was conducted under the auspices of the Environment, Energy, and Economic Development Program (EEED) within RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment (ISE), a division of the RAND Corporation, for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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