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：

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政府能源援助计划的异质效应：乔治亚州 Covid-19 封锁


在 Covid-19 大流行期间，许多国家的政府在封锁和经济活动减少期间采取了措施来支持民众。在格鲁吉亚共和国，2020年4月，政府宣布将在2020年4月和2020年5月支付居民用户的电费，实际上实现了免费，只要使用量不超过200千瓦时/月。使用超过 200 千瓦时的消费者将按整个消耗量（不仅仅是 200 千瓦时以上）支付常规电费。 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国家客户群 10% 的样本读数，看看是否对政策的反应与经济理论的预测是一致的。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，小用量用户会增加用电量，大用量用户会减少用电量，以努力达到200千瓦时大关。然而，我们没有发现任何在 200 kWh 时“聚束”或此后出现“洞”的证据。平均家庭的使用量比正常情况增加了约 5%。然而，这一数字掩盖了城市、农村和“高山”地区政策效果的显着异质性。