A Cross-Domain Approach to Analyzing the Short-Run Impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. Electricity Sector

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive data hub combining electricity, health, mobility, and satellite data to analyze COVID-19's short-term effects on the U.S. electricity sector, revealing significant consumption reductions linked to pandemic dynamics.

Contribution

It presents a novel cross-domain data platform and analysis approach to understand COVID-19's immediate impact on electricity consumption in the U.S.

Findings

Electricity consumption decreased significantly during COVID-19

Reductions correlated with COVID-19 case numbers and social distancing

The data hub enables integrated analysis of health, mobility, and energy data

Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has rapidly spread around the globe in 2020, with the U.S. becoming the epicenter of COVID-19 cases since late March. As the U.S. begins to gradually resume economic activity, it is imperative for policymakers and power system operators to take a scientific approach to understanding and predicting the impact on the electricity sector. Here, we release a first-of-its-kind cross-domain open-access data hub, integrating data from across all existing U.S. wholesale electricity markets with COVID-19 case, weather, cellular location, and satellite imaging data. Leveraging cross-domain insights from public health and mobility data, we uncover a significant reduction in electricity consumption across that is strongly correlated with the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, degree of social distancing, and level of commercial activity.