Determinantes del consumo de energía eléctrica del sector residencial en Uruguay

This research examines the determinants of residential electricity demand for Uruguay. Using extended demand models, it analyses several socio-economic factors affecting households' electricity consumption -per capita income, household composition, housing characteristic, equipment and the relative participation of some energy uses-. The data belong to the Demand and Use of Electricity Survey of the Urban Residential Sector carried out for Uruguay in 2015. First, using OLS we estimate the effects of the socio-economic variables for the average consumption and these results are compared with those that arise from the estimation of three socioeconomic levels -low, medium and high-. In addition, we study the impact of these variables along the distribution of consumption based on the quantile regression method. The results indicate that per capita income, household composition, housing characteristics, air conditioning and heating possession, are important to explain household electricity consumption. With regard to the share of energy uses, it is observed that those associated with thermal comfort, particularly heating, together with cooking, are those with the greatest effect on the consumption of electrical energy. These results vary depending on the household socioeconomic level and its location in the distribution of consumption of electricity. In particular, household composition variables have a greater impact on households with lower electricity consumption, while the variables associated with housing and heating use show a higher effect on high consumption levels. This is the first study that evaluates the electricity demand throughout the consumption distribution based on the quantile regression method for Uruguay. The existence of differences between the quantiles of consumption indicates the benefits of using this method for the residential demand analysis.