IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v206y2025ics0301421525003040.html

Peak loads, health, and energy equality: The effects of demand-side electricity efficiency interventions

Author

Listed:
  • Kamana-Williams, Baxter
  • Hooper, R.J.
  • Silk, Jamie
  • Gnoth, Daniel
  • Chase, J. Geoffrey

Abstract

Electrification is key for climate change mitigation but, if unmanaged, risks increasing energy poverty, inequalities, and peak electricity demand. While demand response to reduce peak electricity demand has been the subject of extensive research, the effects of energy efficiency interventions for wider health system and socioeconomic outcomes are less studied. This study assesses the impact of seven energy efficiency interventions on peak electricity demand in residential neighbourhoods in Aotearoa New Zealand, and compares these effects with wider system outcomes, including demonstrated direct health system costs. Using a validated agent-based model of energy use, electricity demand is simulated across socioeconomic and geographic conditions. Most energy efficiency interventions reduce peak electricity demand, with reductions of 0.08–1.64 kW/house (4–37 %). Socioeconomic variations highlight the importance of targeting energy efficiency interventions to maximise whole-system outcomes. This study suggests increasing efficiency standards, accompanied by subsidies for low-income households, would enhance these benefits. However, average effects are skewed towards the highest-income neighbourhoods and do not represent the bottom 75 % of neighbourhoods, meaning targeted subsidies would be preferable to avoid policy choices appearing biased towards wealthier segments, as well as being preferable in terms of economic efficiency and avoiding any increase in existing inequalities and energy poverty.

Suggested Citation

  • Kamana-Williams, Baxter & Hooper, R.J. & Silk, Jamie & Gnoth, Daniel & Chase, J. Geoffrey, 2025. "Peak loads, health, and energy equality: The effects of demand-side electricity efficiency interventions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:206:y:2025:i:c:s0301421525003040
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114797
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421525003040
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114797?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Copiello, Sergio, 2015. "Achieving affordable housing through energy efficiency strategy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 288-298.
    2. Sugiyama, Masahiro, 2012. "Climate change mitigation and electrification," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 464-468.
    3. Gyamfi, Samuel & Krumdieck, Susan & Urmee, Tania, 2013. "Residential peak electricity demand response—Highlights of some behavioural issues," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 71-77.
    4. Huang, Luling & Nock, Destenie & Cong, Shuchen & Qiu, Yueming (Lucy), 2023. "Inequalities across cooling and heating in households: Energy equity gaps," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    5. Arteconi, A. & Hewitt, N.J. & Polonara, F., 2012. "State of the art of thermal storage for demand-side management," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 371-389.
    6. Howden-Chapman, Philippa & Viggers, Helen & Chapman, Ralph & O’Sullivan, Kimberley & Telfar Barnard, Lucy & Lloyd, Bob, 2012. "Tackling cold housing and fuel poverty in New Zealand: A review of policies, research, and health impacts," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 134-142.
    7. Gils, Hans Christian, 2014. "Assessment of the theoretical demand response potential in Europe," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 1-18.
    8. Williams, B. & Bishop, D., 2024. "Flexible futures: The potential for electrical energy demand response in New Zealand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    9. Cabeza, Luisa F. & Ürge-Vorsatz, Diana & Ürge, Daniel & Palacios, Anabel & Barreneche, Camila, 2018. "Household appliances penetration and ownership trends in residential buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 1-8.
    10. Battini, Federico & Pernigotto, Giovanni & Gasparella, Andrea, 2023. "District-level validation of a shoeboxing simplification algorithm to speed-up Urban Building Energy Modeling simulations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    11. Ngan Nguyen & Hongfei Chen & Benjamin Jin & Walker Quinn & Conrad Tyler & Adam Landsberg, 2021. "Cultural Dissemination: An Agent-Based Model with Social Influence," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 24(4), pages 1-5.
    12. Williams, B. & Bishop, D. & Hooper, G. & Chase, J.G., 2024. "Driving change: Electric vehicle charging behavior and peak loading," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    13. Bente Halvorsen & Bodil Merethe Larsen, 2013. "How do investments in heat pumps affect household energy consumption?," Discussion Papers 737, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    14. Bhagya Nathali Silva & Murad Khan & Kijun Han, 2020. "Futuristic Sustainable Energy Management in Smart Environments: A Review of Peak Load Shaving and Demand Response Strategies, Challenges, and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-23, July.
    15. Yan, Xing & Ozturk, Yusuf & Hu, Zechun & Song, Yonghua, 2018. "A review on price-driven residential demand response," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 411-419.
    16. Baxter Williams & Daniel Bishop & Patricio Gallardo & J. Geoffrey Chase, 2023. "Demand Side Management in Industrial, Commercial, and Residential Sectors: A Review of Constraints and Considerations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-28, July.
    17. O׳Connell, Niamh & Pinson, Pierre & Madsen, Henrik & O׳Malley, Mark, 2014. "Benefits and challenges of electrical demand response: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 686-699.
    18. Best, Rohan & Sinha, Kompal, 2021. "Fuel poverty policy: Go big or go home insulation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    19. Cabeza, Luisa F. & Ürge-Vorsatz, Diana & Palacios, Anabel & Ürge, Daniel & Serrano, Susana & Barreneche, Camila, 2018. "Trends in penetration and ownership of household appliances," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 4044-4059.
    20. Uddin, Moslem & Romlie, Mohd Fakhizan & Abdullah, Mohd Faris & Abd Halim, Syahirah & Abu Bakar, Ab Halim & Chia Kwang, Tan, 2018. "A review on peak load shaving strategies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3323-3332.
    21. Chua, K.J. & Chou, S.K. & Yang, W.M., 2010. "Advances in heat pump systems: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(12), pages 3611-3624, December.
    22. Arthur, Grimes & Tim, Denne & Philippa, Howden-Chapman & Richard, Arnold & Lucy, Telfar-Barnard & Nicholas, Preval & Chris, Young, 2012. "Cost benefit analysis of the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart programme," MPRA Paper 99919, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Hawkes, A.D., 2014. "Long-run marginal CO2 emissions factors in national electricity systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 197-205.
    24. Baxter L. M. Williams & R. J. Hooper & Daniel Gnoth & J. G. Chase, 2025. "Residential Electricity Demand Modelling: Validation of a Behavioural Agent-Based Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-22, March.
    25. Rita Garcia & Fausto Freire, 2016. "Marginal Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Electricity Generation in Portugal and Implications for Electric Vehicles," Resources, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-15, November.
    26. Wyatt, Peter, 2013. "A dwelling-level investigation into the physical and socio-economic drivers of domestic energy consumption in England," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 540-549.
    27. Braas, Hagen & Jordan, Ulrike & Best, Isabelle & Orozaliev, Janybek & Vajen, Klaus, 2020. "District heating load profiles for domestic hot water preparation with realistic simultaneity using DHWcalc and TRNSYS," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    28. Robert Olszewski & Piotr Pałka & Agnieszka Wendland & Jacek Kamiński, 2019. "A Multi-Agent Social Gamification Model to Guide Sustainable Urban Photovoltaic Panels Installation Policies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-27, August.
    29. Howden-Chapman, Philippa & Viggers, Helen & Chapman, Ralph & O'Dea, Des & Free, Sarah & O'Sullivan, Kimberley, 2009. "Warm homes: Drivers of the demand for heating in the residential sector in New Zealand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3387-3399, September.
    30. Fátima Lima & Paula Ferreira & Vítor Leal, 2020. "A Review of the Relation between Household Indoor Temperature and Health Outcomes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-24, June.
    31. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Kester, Johannes & Noel, Lance & de Rubens, Gerardo Zarazua, 2019. "Energy Injustice and Nordic Electric Mobility: Inequality, Elitism, and Externalities in the Electrification of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Transport," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 205-217.
    32. Magnus Moglia & Aneta Podkalicka & James McGregor, 2018. "An Agent-Based Model of Residential Energy Efficiency Adoption," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 21(3), pages 1-3.
    33. McNeil, Michael A. & Bojda, Nicholas, 2012. "Cost-effectiveness of high-efficiency appliances in the U.S. residential sector: A case study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 33-42.
    34. Dyson, Mark E.H. & Borgeson, Samuel D. & Tabone, Michaelangelo D. & Callaway, Duncan S., 2014. "Using smart meter data to estimate demand response potential, with application to solar energy integration," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 607-619.
    35. Kunwar, Niraj & Salonvaara, Mikael & Iffa, Emishaw & Shrestha, Som & Hun, Diana, 2023. "Performance assessment of active insulation systems in residential buildings for energy savings and peak demand reduction," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    36. Hepbasli, Arif & Kalinci, Yildiz, 2009. "A review of heat pump water heating systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(6-7), pages 1211-1229, August.
    37. Haas, Reinhard & Biermayr, Peter, 2000. "The rebound effect for space heating Empirical evidence from Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 403-410, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kamana-Williams, Baxter & Cerdeira, Alice E. & Hooper, R.J. & Peer, Rebecca & Chase, J. Geoffrey, 2026. "Rethinking residential energy policy: A review of priorities and directions for effective and equitable demand-side management," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 406(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kamana-Williams, Baxter & Cerdeira, Alice E. & Hooper, R.J. & Peer, Rebecca & Chase, J. Geoffrey, 2026. "Rethinking residential energy policy: A review of priorities and directions for effective and equitable demand-side management," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 406(C).
    2. Baxter L. M. Williams & R. J. Hooper & Daniel Gnoth & J. G. Chase, 2025. "Residential Electricity Demand Modelling: Validation of a Behavioural Agent-Based Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-22, March.
    3. Williams, B. & Bishop, D., 2024. "Flexible futures: The potential for electrical energy demand response in New Zealand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    4. Dranka, Géremi Gilson & Ferreira, Paula, 2019. "Review and assessment of the different categories of demand response potentials," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 280-294.
    5. Jack, M.W. & Mirfin, A. & Anderson, B., 2021. "The role of highly energy-efficient dwellings in enabling 100% renewable electricity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    6. Zhou, Jin & Wu, Wentao & Bellamy, Larry & Bishop, Daniel, 2026. "Thermal energy storage–coupled heat pump systems: Review of configurations and modelling approaches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 226(PA).
    7. Alasseri, Rajeev & Tripathi, Ashish & Joji Rao, T. & Sreekanth, K.J., 2017. "A review on implementation strategies for demand side management (DSM) in Kuwait through incentive-based demand response programs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 617-635.
    8. Voulis, Nina & van Etten, Max J.J. & Chappin, Émile J.L. & Warnier, Martijn & Brazier, Frances M.T., 2019. "Rethinking European energy taxation to incentivise consumer demand response participation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 156-168.
    9. Copiello, Sergio, 2017. "Building energy efficiency: A research branch made of paradoxes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1064-1076.
    10. Lund, Peter D. & Lindgren, Juuso & Mikkola, Jani & Salpakari, Jyri, 2015. "Review of energy system flexibility measures to enable high levels of variable renewable electricity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 785-807.
    11. Fischer, David & Madani, Hatef, 2017. "On heat pumps in smart grids: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 342-357.
    12. Hache, Emmanuel & Leboullenger, Déborah & Mignon, Valérie, 2017. "Beyond average energy consumption in the French residential housing market: A household classification approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 82-95.
    13. McPherson, Madeleine & Stoll, Brady, 2020. "Demand response for variable renewable energy integration: A proposed approach and its impacts," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    14. Ouyang, Jinlong & Long, Enshen & Hokao, Kazunori, 2010. "Rebound effect in Chinese household energy efficiency and solution for mitigating it," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 5269-5276.
    15. Roberto Bruno & Francesco Nicoletti & Giorgio Cuconati & Stefania Perrella & Daniela Cirone, 2020. "Performance Indexes of an Air-Water Heat Pump Versus the Capacity Ratio: Analysis by Means of Experimental Data," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-19, July.
    16. Li, Qiyuan & Shirazi, Ali & Zheng, Cheng & Rosengarten, Gary & Scott, Jason A. & Taylor, Robert A., 2016. "Energy concentration limits in solar thermal heating applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 253-267.
    17. Antonijevic, Dragi & Komatina, Mirko, 2011. "Sustainable sub-geothermal heat pump heating in Serbia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(8), pages 3534-3538.
    18. Ruben Barreto & Calvin Gonçalves & Luis Gomes & Pedro Faria & Zita Vale, 2022. "Evaluation Metrics to Assess the Most Suitable Energy Community End-Users to Participate in Demand Response," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, March.
    19. Aste, Niccolò & Adhikari, R.S. & Manfren, Massimiliano, 2013. "Cost optimal analysis of heat pump technology adoption in residential reference buildings," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 615-624.
    20. Pérez-Sánchez, Laura À. & Velasco-Fernández, Raúl & Giampietro, Mario, 2022. "Factors and actions for the sustainability of the residential sector. The nexus of energy, materials, space, and time use," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:206:y:2025:i:c:s0301421525003040. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.