Utilizing smart-meter data to project impacts of urban warming on residential electricity use for vulnerable populations in Southern California
Open Access
- 24 January 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by IOP Publishing in Environmental Research Letters
- Vol. 15 (6), 064001
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab6fbe
Abstract
Extreme heat events are increasing in frequency and intensity, challenging electricity infrastructure due to growing cooling demand and posing public health risks to urbanites. In order to minimize risks from increasing extreme heat, it is critical to (a) project increases in electricity use with urban warming, and (b) identify neighborhoods that are most vulnerable due in part to a lack of air conditioning and inability to afford increased energy. Here, we utilize smart meter data from 180,476 households in Southern California to quantify increases in residential electricity use per degree warming for each census tract. We also compute air conditioning penetration rates, finding that air conditioners are less prevalent in poorer census tracts. Utilizing climate change projections for end of century, we show that 55% and 30% of the census tracts identified as most vulnerable are expected to experience more than 16 and 32 extreme heat days per year, respectively.Funding Information
- Teh Fu ‘Dave’ Yen Fellowship in Environmental Engineering at University of Southern California
- National Science Foundation (CAREER Grant 1845931)
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