Impact of climate change on electricity consumption of urban residents in China: An empirical analysis based on annual urban panel data.

This article investigates the impact of climate change, specifically temperature variations, on urban residential electricity consumption (uec) across 278 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2019 using an extended STIRPAT model—an analytical framework that incorporates population, affluence, technology, and climatic factors. The study finds that both heating degree days (hdd) and cooling degree days (cdd) significantly increase electricity consumption, with cooling demand having a slightly greater effect, and that these impacts vary regionally: hdd and cdd promote uec in the economically developed eastern region, hdd affects the central region, while effects are insignificant in the western region. Additionally, northern residents show greater sensitivity to hot weather, whereas southern residents exhibit a nonlinear "U"-shaped electricity response to temperature changes due to differing heating habits. The research highlights the roles of urbanization, economic development, tertiary sector growth, technological innovation, and electricity pricing in influencing electricity consumption, and suggests policy measures including improved climate monitoring, green technology promotion, appliance upgrades, and heating infrastructure development to manage electricity demand amid climate change.