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Does Daylight Savings Time Save Energy? Evidence from Ontario

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  • Nicholas Rivers

    (University of Ottawa Faculty of Social Science)

Abstract

Daylight savings time was adopted for the purposes of reducing energy consumption, but recent studies have cast some doubt on whether it still serves this purpose effectively. This study estimates the effect of daylight savings time on electricity demand in Ontario, Canada. It uses a quasi-experimental approach, by leveraging the fact that the transition to DST occurs on a different day in each year. The results suggest that daylight savings time reduces the demand for electricity by about 1.5% in Ontario. The reductions in electricity consumption is concentrated during the evening period. The reduction in electricity demand appears to persist for at least several weeks following the transition to daylight savings time.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas Rivers, 2018. "Does Daylight Savings Time Save Energy? Evidence from Ontario," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 70(2), pages 517-543, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:70:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s10640-017-0131-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-017-0131-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. López, Miguel, 2020. "Daylight effect on the electricity demand in Spain and assessment of Daylight Saving Time policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    4. Humberto Verdejo & Emiliano Fucks Jara & Tomas Castillo & Cristhian Becker & Diego Vergara & Rafael Sebastian & Guillermo Guzmán & Francisco Tobar & Juan Zolezzi, 2023. "Analysis and Modeling of Residential Energy Consumption Profiles Using Device-Level Data: A Case Study of Homes Located in Santiago de Chile," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-32, December.

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