Electricity Use as a Real Time Indicator of the Economic Burden of the COVID-19-Related Lockdown: Evidence from Switzerland

Benedikt Janzen and Doina Radulescu

Diskussionsschriften from Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft

Abstract: We employ hourly electricity load data for Switzerland as a real time indicator of the economic e ects of the lockdown following the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Our findings reveal that following the drastic lockdown, overall electricity use decreased by 4 per cent, with a reduction of even 11.3 per cent in the Canton of Ticino where the number of confirmed cases per capita was one of the highest in Switzerland and also stricter measures such as closures of construction sites and industrial companies were implemented on top of federal regulations. Looking at working days only, we estimate a Swiss-wide decrease in electricity consumption of 6.3 per cent. Assuming industry, services, transport and agriculture account for 67 per cent of electricity demand, the 4 per cent decrease in electricity use implies a 6 per cent output reduction in these sectors. In addition, the reduced electricity imports and the change in the generation mix of neighbouring countries, also translates into reduced CO2 emissions related to these imports.

Keywords: COVID-19; economic indicator; electricity load; CO2 emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C3 C53 Q4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env and nep-eur
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Electricity Use as a Real Time Indicator of the Economic Burden of the Covid-19-Related Lockdown: Evidence from Switzerland (2020)
Journal Article: Electricity Use as a Real-Time Indicator of the Economic Burden of the COVID-19-Related Lockdown: Evidence from Switzerland
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