CLIMATE AND RESIDENTIAL ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION IN HONG-KONG

The influence of climatic variables on variations in residential elect ricity consumption (rec) in Hong Kong for the period 1980-1994 has bee n investigated. The association between a potential weather stress ind ex, do, and rec was also examined. Utilizing monthly data and stepwise multiple regression analyses, it was found that the vapor pressure wa s not significantly related to rec while cloud cover was associated wi th rec in summer only. The mean temperature was strongly correlated wi th rec. The use of do demonstrated a strong relation to rec, with R-2 equal to 0.823 for the whole period and 0.894 for the summer. These re sults indicate that do could replace weather variables in modeling rec . (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.