Impact of information feedback on residential electricity demand in China

This paper examines the relationship between information feedback and residential electricity consumption, based on a household survey dataset collected in 2012 that covered 26 provinces in China. The results show that information feedback is strongly associated with residential electricity consumption. Electricity consumption is statistically lower in households who obtain consumption information through interactions with meter readers, receive ex ante feedback (use a prepaid metering system), and receive explicit feedback by directly paying meter readers. However, increased frequency of information feedback and installation of smart meters had no significant correlation with household electricity usage. The sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the results. We suggest that policy-makers attach great importance to the demand side management of residential electricity consumption and improve the information feedback capacity of smart meters.