Information and Behavioral Approaches to Increase Electricity Payment and Reduce Pollution from Electricity

Last registered on June 15, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Information and Behavioral Approaches to Increase Electricity Payment and Reduce Pollution from Electricity
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010817
Initial registration date
January 22, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
January 23, 2023, 7:26 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
June 15, 2023, 8:09 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Duke University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-01-01
End date
2024-12-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Increased access to affordable and high-quality electricity services is needed in many low- and middle-income countries. Raising revenue through electrical bill payments can be key to supporting this goal, and help electricity utilities meet increasing electricity demand, while limiting non-technical losses. However, non-payment can result in fewer investments in infrastructure and upgrades, which in turn perpetuates poor service for households. Further, when electricity generation is dominated by fossil fuels, as in Pakistan, greater consumption of electricity services translates into higher carbon emissions. Thus, losses exacerbate the sector’s financial problems and its contributions to climate change.

Utilities employ various approaches—technological and institutional innovations—to increase payment for electricity services consumed, yet often it remains low. The research team’s prior work in Karachi, Pakistan indicates that this social norm of not paying for electricity is linked to mistrust in billing practices, information failures, and financial constraints. This suggests a role for complementary interventions to shift norms. In partnership with Karachi Electric, researchers propose a randomized evaluation to test transparency, information, and financial interventions designed to decrease the wedge between consumption and generation. Randomizing interventions at the transformer level will allow the researcher team to estimate tons of CO2 abated.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Meeks, Robyn. 2023. "Information and Behavioral Approaches to Increase Electricity Payment and Reduce Pollution from Electricity." AEA RCT Registry. June 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10817-2.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Increased access to affordable and high-quality electricity services is needed in many low- and middle-income countries. Raising revenue through electrical bill payments can be key to supporting this goal, and help electricity utilities meet increasing electricity demand, while limiting non-technical losses. However, non-payment can result in fewer investments in infrastructure and upgrades, which in turn perpetuates poor service for households. Further, when electricity generation is dominated by fossil fuels, as in Pakistan, greater consumption of electricity services translates into higher carbon emissions. Thus, losses exacerbate the sector’s financial problems and its contributions to climate change.

Utilities employ various approaches—technological and institutional innovations—to increase payment for electricity services consumed, yet often it remains low. The research team’s prior work in Karachi, Pakistan indicates that this social norm of not paying for electricity is linked to mistrust in billing practices, information failures, and financial constraints. This suggests a role for complementary interventions to shift norms. In partnership with Karachi Electric, researchers propose a randomized evaluation to test transparency, information, and financial interventions designed to decrease the wedge between consumption and generation. Randomizing interventions at the transformer level will allow the researcher team to estimate tons of CO2 abated.
Intervention Start Date
2023-03-01
Intervention End Date
2024-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Revenue recovery, bill payment, losses, trust in billing and utility, perceptions of bills and utility, billed electricity consumption, appliances
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Focus groups conducted in Karachi during summer 2021 highlighted factors driving losses and perpetuating a social norm of not paying for electricity services: a high mistrust in metering and billing processes, poor understanding of tariffs, and financial constraints. We propose interventions to mitigate these issues. We randomly assign transformers (PMTs) to treatment groups; randomization at this level will allow us to estimate the impacts of treatments on losses and CO2 abated.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Transformer / neighborhood
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
156 neighborhoods (transformers)
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately 5,000 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
156 neighborhoods/PMT with about 8 hhs per neighborhood = 1248 hhs per group. Times 4 groups = 4992 households to survey at baseline
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Duke University
IRB Approval Date
2022-06-14
IRB Approval Number
2022-0481
Analysis Plan

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