Estimation of demand response to energy price signals in energy consumption behaviour in Beijing, China

The energy price system in Beijing has not fully exploited customers’ price elasticity, and has a negative impact on achieving the goals of energy saving. This paper analyses the response behaviours of different customers to typical energy prices. As for electricity self-elasticity, the range of the primary, secondary, tertiary industry and residents are −0.026 to −0.033, −0.045 to −0.059, −0.035 to −0.047 and −0.024 to −0.032, respectively. As regards self-elasticity on coal, the range of the primary, secondary, tertiary industry and residents are −0.030 to −0.037, −0.066 to −0.093, −0.055 to −0.072 and −0.034 to −0.051, respectively. The self-elasticities on oil and natural gas are very weak. As for cross-elasticity, when consuming electricity and oil, customers mainly focus on the prices of natural gas, which are 0.185 and 0.112. When consuming coal and natural gas, customers are concerned about the electricity prices, and their cross-elasticities are 0.03 and 0.36, respectively. The estimation of demand response to energy price signals in energy consumption behaviours can provide a decision support for formulating rational energy price policies.