U.S. commercial electricity consumption

Contreras, Sergio and Smith, Wm. Doyle and Fullerton, Thomas M., Jr. (2010): U.S. commercial electricity consumption. Published in: Mountain Plains Journal of Business & Economics , Vol. 12, No. 1 (31 July 2011): pp. 27-41.

Abstract

Commercial electricity usage exceeds that of industrial usage and is almost as large as residential electricity consumption in the United States. In this study, regional economic, demographic, and climatic data are used to analyze commercial electricity demand in the United States. Results indicate that total commercial demand for electricity is negatively related to price. In addition, the number of businesses and service income positively affect electricity demand for commercial use. The results are similar for equations estimated for kilowatt-hours demanded per business. The regional dummy variables exhibit different signs, which may occur due to climate factors because warm weather regions experience greater volumes of cooling degree-days, while cool weather regions observe larger amounts of heating degree-days. Although coefficients for the price of natural gas are positive, they do not satisfy the 5-percent significance criterion. The latter suggests that natural gas may not be a substitute good for electricity within the commercial sector of the U.S. economy.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Commercial Electricity Consumption; Regional Economics
• Subjects: R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R15 - Econometric and Input-Output Models ; Other Models; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q4 - Energy > Q43 - Energy and the Macroeconomy; M - Business Administration and Business Economics ; Marketing ; Accounting ; Personnel Economics > M2 - Business Economics > M21 - Business Economics

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