Data and Code for: Energy Hogs and Energy Angels: What Does Residential Electricity Use Really Tell Us about Profligate Consumption?

Energy Hogs and Energy Angels: What Does Residential
Electricity Usage Really Tell Us About Profligate Consumption?

Manuscript ID: PandP-2025-1111

Abstract: High residential volumetric electricity prices are
partially justified as placing more of the cost burden on less prudent
households, so-called "energy hogs".
I show the difference in means between above-median and below-median
household consumption declines by 60%-90% after adjusting for three factors:
number of household occupants, local climate variation, and adoption of rooftop
solar. Failure to make these adjustments disproportionately hurts low-income
households. Focusing on residential electricity is especially problematic,
because nationally it accounts for less than 15% of energy and less than 10% of
GHG emissions, while such penalty pricing is virtually nonexistent elsewhere in
the economy.

《能源饕餮与能源天使：居民用电数据究竟能揭示多少挥霍性用电行为？》

稿件编号：PandP-2025-1111

摘要：高额居民按量计费电价常被部分合理化，认为其可将更多成本负担转嫁至用电不够审慎的家庭，也就是所谓的“能源饕餮”。本文研究表明，在对家庭常住人口数、当地气候差异以及屋顶光伏（rooftop solar）安装情况这三个因素进行调整后，用电量高于中位数与低于中位数的家庭之间的用电降幅均值差异会缩小60%至90%。若未开展此类调整，低收入家庭将承受不成比例的额外成本压力。将居民用电作为此类定价的针对性场景存在显著问题：从全国层面来看，居民用电仅占总能源消耗的15%以下、温室气体（Greenhouse Gas, GHG）排放的10%以下，而此类惩罚性定价在国民经济其他领域几乎不存在。