A Cross-Regional Heterogeneous Study of Urban Residential Electricity Consumption in China : Based on "Three Lines" Method

As the residential sector is responsible for a large proportion of total energy consumption, it has become the main source of electricity consumption growth in China. It is urgent to take targeted and feasible measures to regulate residential electricity consumption. This article uses the data of 285 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019, and four areas are obtained by a region-partitioning method named "three lines" (the Qinling-Huaihe Line, Huhuanyong Line, and Shanhaiguan Line). The spatial econometric model is applied to study the residential electricity consumption in China and its influencing factors from the perspective of regional heterogeneity. The results showed that: 1) Based on the "three lines", the regional heterogeneity of residential electricity consumption in China is significant; 2) Region 1, which is the north of the Shanhaiguan Line, is significantly different from other regions; 3) Positive spatial correlation occurs in the per capita domestic electricity consumption of urban residents, with obvious regional heterogeneity of each influencing factor, among which household appliances are an important intermediary. Relevant policy implications are put forward based on the findings