Impact of COVID-19 Measures on Electricity Consumption

Abstract

As COVID-19 spreads worldwide, governments have been implementing a wide range of measures to contain it, from movement restrictions to economy-wide shutdowns. Understanding their impacts is essential to support better policies for countries still experiencing outbreaks or in case of emergence of second pandemic waves. Here we show that the cumulative decline in electricity consumption within the four months following the stay-home orders ranges between 4-13% in the most affected EU countries and USA states, except Florida that shows no significant impact. Whereas the studied USA states have recovered baseline levels, electricity consumption remains lower in the European countries. These results illustrate the severity of the crisis across countries and can support further research on the effect of specific measures, evolution of economic activity or relationship with other high-frequency indicators.