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Title: Multi-timescale coordinated schedule of interdependent electricity-natural gas systems considering electricity grid steady-state and gas network dynamics
Award ID(s):
1906780
NSF-PAR ID:
10215829
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems
Volume:
118
Issue:
C
ISSN:
0142-0615
Page Range / eLocation ID:
105763
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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  1. Abstract

    Local and state governments have made significant advances in creating, implementing, and evaluating energy efficiency programs in the buildings sector. Evaluations commonly use ex-post statistical models to complement ex-ante engineering estimates when determining program impacts. A critical assumption of data-driven evaluations is that reductions would not occur in the absence of the program. This assumption is difficult to test, particularly if other unobserved changes to the building’s energy profile coincide with the program’s adoption. We provide a method to detect a class of unobserved simultaneous cross-energy changes in a building’s energy profile by examining the treatment effects of electricity-only programs on natural gas use and vice versa. We apply the method to a panel of residential energy efficiency implementations with monthly electricity and gas data from 2010 to 2016 in the City of Palo Alto, California. Using difference-in-differences and event history analyses, we find evidence of significant gas reductions estimated for some electricity-only programs, suggesting that households implemented unobserved changes at the same time as those programs. Our results highlight how data-driven analyses may not adequately estimate program impacts, and the value of simultaneous electricity and natural gas measurements for detecting and interpreting unobserved changes to energy use at the household level. Lastly, we present evidence that energy savings from non-monetary interventions can exceed those which offer financial rewards for energy efficiency.

     
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