Demand for electricity: a case in South Korea

This book studies wholesale and sector-wise electricity demand in South Korea. Electricity demand analysis provides useful insights for market performance evaluation, load prediction, market restructuring, tariff schedule design, etc. In recent years, there has been a heated debate in Korea on how to restructure the electricity market, since low reserve margins that have been in operation (6.7% on average in 2010 for instance) have been threatening the stability and integrity of the electricity system. This book thus attempts to address three important questions about Korean electricity demand-side market restructuring: (1) What are the estimates of the price elasticity of electricity demand in the wholesale and retail markets, including the residential, industrial, and commercial sectors? (2) How do inter-temporal price changes affect electricity consumption, and what are the estimates of the inter-temporal electricity cross-price elasticities in the wholesale market? (3) Except for the electricity price, what other factors affect electricity consumption in the wholesale and retail markets, including the residential, industrial, and commercial sectors?