Evaluating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Residential Energy Use in Los Angeles
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to assess energy use during times of emergency that disrupt daily and seasonal patterns. The authors present findings from a regional evaluation in the city of Los Angeles (California, USA) with broad application to other areas and demonstrate an ap...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/10/4476 |
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| author | Michael J. Klopfer Joy E. Pixley Armen Saiyan Amir Tabakh David Jacot Guann-Pyng Li |
| author_facet | Michael J. Klopfer Joy E. Pixley Armen Saiyan Amir Tabakh David Jacot Guann-Pyng Li |
| author_sort | Michael J. Klopfer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to assess energy use during times of emergency that disrupt daily and seasonal patterns. The authors present findings from a regional evaluation in the city of Los Angeles (California, USA) with broad application to other areas and demonstrate an approach for isolating and analyzing residential loads from community-level electric utility feeder data. The study addresses effects on residential energy use and the implications for future energy use models, energy planning, and device energy standards and utility program development. In this study we review changes in residential energy use during the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic from four residential communities across Los Angeles covering approximately 6603 households within two microclimate sub regional areas (Los Angeles Basin and San Fernando Valley). Analyses address both absolute and seasonal temperature-corrected energy use changes while assessing estimated changes on energy usage from both temperature-sensitive loads (e.g., air conditioning and electric heating) and non-temperature-sensitive loads (e.g., consumer electronics and major appliance use). An average 5.1% increase in total residential energy use was observed for non-temperature sensitive loads during the pandemic period compared to a 2018–2019 baseline. During mid-spring when shelter in place activity was highest a peak monthly energy use of 20.9% increase was seen compared to a 2018–2019 composite baseline. Considering an average of the top five warmest summer days, a 9.5% increase in energy use was observed for events during summer 2020 compared to summer 2018 (a year with similar magnitude summer high heat events). Based on these results, a potential trend is identified for increased residential load during pandemics and other shelter-in-place disruptions, net of any temperature-sensitive load shifts with greater impacts expected for lower-income communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:25:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a85b27e3d83742508ee698a7192e05e7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:25:05Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-a85b27e3d83742508ee698a7192e05e72023-11-21T19:43:00ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-05-011110447610.3390/app11104476Evaluating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Residential Energy Use in Los AngelesMichael J. Klopfer0Joy E. Pixley1Armen Saiyan2Amir Tabakh3David Jacot4Guann-Pyng Li5California Plug Load Research Center (CalPlug), California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USACalifornia Plug Load Research Center (CalPlug), California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USALos Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), Los Angeles, CA 90051, USALos Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), Los Angeles, CA 90051, USALos Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), Los Angeles, CA 90051, USACalifornia Plug Load Research Center (CalPlug), California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USAThe 2020 COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to assess energy use during times of emergency that disrupt daily and seasonal patterns. The authors present findings from a regional evaluation in the city of Los Angeles (California, USA) with broad application to other areas and demonstrate an approach for isolating and analyzing residential loads from community-level electric utility feeder data. The study addresses effects on residential energy use and the implications for future energy use models, energy planning, and device energy standards and utility program development. In this study we review changes in residential energy use during the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic from four residential communities across Los Angeles covering approximately 6603 households within two microclimate sub regional areas (Los Angeles Basin and San Fernando Valley). Analyses address both absolute and seasonal temperature-corrected energy use changes while assessing estimated changes on energy usage from both temperature-sensitive loads (e.g., air conditioning and electric heating) and non-temperature-sensitive loads (e.g., consumer electronics and major appliance use). An average 5.1% increase in total residential energy use was observed for non-temperature sensitive loads during the pandemic period compared to a 2018–2019 baseline. During mid-spring when shelter in place activity was highest a peak monthly energy use of 20.9% increase was seen compared to a 2018–2019 composite baseline. Considering an average of the top five warmest summer days, a 9.5% increase in energy use was observed for events during summer 2020 compared to summer 2018 (a year with similar magnitude summer high heat events). Based on these results, a potential trend is identified for increased residential load during pandemics and other shelter-in-place disruptions, net of any temperature-sensitive load shifts with greater impacts expected for lower-income communities.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/10/4476residential energy modelingCOVID-19coronavirus pandemictemperature sensitivityenergy security |
| spellingShingle | Michael J. Klopfer Joy E. Pixley Armen Saiyan Amir Tabakh David Jacot Guann-Pyng Li Evaluating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Residential Energy Use in Los Angeles Applied Sciences residential energy modeling COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic temperature sensitivity energy security |
| title | Evaluating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Residential Energy Use in Los Angeles |
| title_full | Evaluating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Residential Energy Use in Los Angeles |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Residential Energy Use in Los Angeles |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Residential Energy Use in Los Angeles |
| title_short | Evaluating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Residential Energy Use in Los Angeles |
| title_sort | evaluating the impact of the covid 19 pandemic on residential energy use in los angeles |
| topic | residential energy modeling COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic temperature sensitivity energy security |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/10/4476 |
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