During the Covid-19 pandemic, the governments of many countries adopted measures to support the population during the lockdowns and periods of reduced economic activity. In the Republic of Georgia, in April 2020 the government announced that it would pay the electricity bills of residential customers in April and May 2020, effectively making electricity free, as long as usage would not exceed 200 kWh/month. Consumers using more than 200 kWh would pay the regular tariff on the entire consumption (not just the kWh above 200). In August 2020, the government announced that the policy would be in force again in November and December 2020, and January and February 2021. We examine meter readings from a 10 % sample of the country's customers base outside of the Tbilisi city limits to see if the response to the policy is consistent with the predictions from economic theory. We find that, as suggested by economic theory, in the months when the policy is in place low-volume consumers increase their electricity usage and high-volume consumers decrease it in an effort to make the 200 kWh mark. However, we do not find any evidence of “bunching” at 200 kWh or of a “hole” thereafter. The average household increased usage by some 5 % above and beyond their normal. This figure however masks considerable heterogeneity in the effects of the policy across urban, rural, and “high mountain” status areas.

中文翻译：

---

政府能源援助计划的异质性影响：格鲁吉亚共和国的 Covid-19 封锁


在 Covid-19 大流行期间，许多国家政府采取措施在封锁和经济活动减少期间支持民众。在格鲁吉亚共和国，政府于 2020 年 4 月宣布将于 2020 年 4 月和 5 月支付住宅客户的电费，只要使用量不超过 200 kWh/月，就可以有效地实现免费用电。使用超过 200 kWh 的消费者将支付全部用电量的正常关税（而不仅仅是 200 以上的 kWh）。2020 年 8 月，政府宣布该政策将于 2020 年 11 月和 12 月以及 2021 年 1 月和 2 月再次生效。我们检查了第比利斯市区以外的 10% 的该国客户群样本的电表读数，以查看对政策的反应是否与经济理论的预测一致。我们发现，正如经济理论所表明的那样，在政策实施的几个月里，低容量消费者会增加他们的用电量，而高容量消费者会减少用电量，以努力达到 200 kWh 大关。但是，我们没有发现任何证据表明 200 kWh 时出现“聚拢”或此后出现“孔洞”。普通家庭的使用量比正常水平高出约 5%。然而，这一数字掩盖了该政策在城市、农村和“高山”地位地区影响的巨大异质性。