Publications
Publications
- 2023
Can Digitalization Improve Public Services? Evidence from Innovation in Energy Management
By: Robyn C. Meeks, Jacquelyn Pless and Zhenxuan Wang
Abstract
This paper examines how digitalization impacts public service provision through a study of the U.S. power sector. We exploit the staggered timing of electric utilities’ investments in “smart” meters and find that electricity losses per unit sold decrease by 3.6%. This efficiency improvement is driven by a 5.9% reduction in total losses and 1.2% increase in sales. Additional results suggest this occurs through improvements in energy management.
The effects are driven by government-owned utilities as opposed to privately-owned. Through a supplementary analysis of within-utility electricity reliability in Texas, we also find that digitalization decreased power outage duration but not frequency.
Keywords
Electric Utility; Energy Management; Smart Meters; Energy; Climate Change; State Ownership; Private Ownership; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; United States
Citation
Meeks, Robyn C., Jacquelyn Pless, and Zhenxuan Wang. "Can Digitalization Improve Public Services? Evidence from Innovation in Energy Management." MIT CEEPR Working Paper Series, No. 2023-22, December 2023.