The desire to acquire: forecasting the evolution of household energy services

摘要

People are constantly inventing and adopting new energy-using devices to make their lives more comfortable, convenient, connected, and entertaining. This study aggregated 134 energy-using household devices, excluding major appliances, into categories based on the energy service they provide. By 2006, there were 43 energy-using devices in the average U.S. household that used over 4,700 kWh of electricity, natural gas, and gasoline. A fixed effects panel model was used to examine the relationship of demand for energy-using devices to energy price, household income, and the cost of these devices. This analysis found that the elasticity of demand for these devices with respect to energy price was -0.52 with a 90% confidence interval of -1.04 to -0.01. The elasticity of demand to income was 0.52 with a 90% confidence interval of -0.42 to 1.46. The cost of these devices is also statistically significant.