Reorganization of US48 Time Zones for Savings in Fuel and Carbon Emission

It is observed from the pattern of Electricity Demand in the months of November 2022 and March 2023 that switchover from Summer Time to Winter Time and vice versa causes a shift in demand pattern corresponding to the time shifts. The hourly electricity demands of US48 states have been shown in separate excel files for November 2022 and March 2023. In sheet 2 of  both the excel files, a graphical plot of the average hourly demands in the week before the switchover has been compared with a graphical plot of the average hourly demands in the week after the switchover.Using the above observations, an attempt has been made to determine the best suitable Time Zone configuration of a geographic territory for maximization of the savings in fuel and carbon emission in electricity generation.A geographic territory has a fixed longitude distance from east to west. This distance shall limit the maximum number of possible time zones in the territory. For best results, an odd number of time zones can result in maximum reduction in peak demand in electricity. In a published research paper by the author, it has been shown that for US48 states, 5 time zones are expected to provide best results in reducing the peak electricity demand and flattening the electricity demand curve [1]. The Time Zone Configuration has been presented in a map of US48 states. Also, it has been presented in tabular form using an excel file.The original dataset uploaded here in an excel file is that of hourly electricity demand of US48 states during the month of August 2022 as published by the USEIA (Exhibit-1). By applying the demand shift methodology of the published research paper, a projected demand dataset has been prepared for August 2022 in another excel file (Exhibit-2). The computation of demand differentials achieved on each day of August 2022 has been presented in a separate excel file (Exhibit-3). The computation of savings in maintenance expenses, savings in fuel expenses, savings in tons of carbon emission and its social cost for each day of August 2022 have been estimated in a tabular form and presented in an excel file (Exhibit-4). The total savings for the month of August 2022 has been estimated at USD 50 million and 0.5 million tons of CO2. The savings in USD and CO2 are consistent for each day of August 2022.Two assumptions have been made for computation of the savings.1.      Price of Natural Gas as fuel is the September 2023 price – USD 3.03 per MMBTU.2.      Social Cost of Carbon Emission is as per the 2022 estimate by the US Administration – USD 51 per ton of CO2.