Household energy consumption and adaptation behavior during crisis: Evidence from Indian economic blockade on Nepal

This paper analyzes the energy consumption behavior of urban households in Nepal during the energy crisis induced by the unofficial Indian economic blockade in 2015. Our findings suggest that urban households have a smaller marginal utility attached to the consumption of one more unit of electricity relative to other dirty energy sources like firewood. The 2015 economic blockade had some deteriorating impacts on a household fuel choice as they were forced to degrade to firewood for cooking. However, to some extent, the blockade also seems to have acted as a push factor for some households towards cleaner sources like electricity largely due to the distrust in the supply of petroleum fuels. There is a variation in energy consumption behavior of households, which is explained by different demographic and socioeconomic attributes of the household. Households with a better educated head and those headed by a female are generally more amenable to cleaner fuels such as electricity. On the other hand, larger households and those residing outside the Kathmandu valley are less likely to make the jump to cleaner fuels. House ownership and number of rooms used were found to have no significant association with the energy consumption behavior of households residing in urban Nepal.