Analysis of the spatial features of regional power consumption in the Russian Federation

The article analyzes the features of interregional power consumption within the framework of spatial econometrics. Using the Moran's method, it is shown that the level of electricity consumption in a certain region is positively correlated with the level of electricity consumption in neighboring regions. To assess the energy-economic factors providing this positive impact, spatial autoregression models have been built. Of all the models analyzed, the most appropriate is the one with the spatial lag of the dependent variable (SAR model). From the assessment of the marginal effects (direct, indirect and general), it was concluded that the regional distribution of electricity consumption is largely explained by the processes taking place within the region than in neighboring regions. A model with an extended specification that takes into account the presence and interaction of price and non-price zones is analyzed. The results obtained indicate that the spatial relationships between the regions of the price zone differ from the relationships between the regions of the non-price zone.