Digital transformation and electricity consumption: Evidence from the Broadband China pilot policy

Taking the Broadband China pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper establishes a Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to investigate the impact of digital transformation on electricity consumption based on the panel data of 278 cities in China from 2006 to 2017. The results show that digital transformation significantly reduces electricity consumption and intensity, and this electricity-saving effect is achieved through technological optimization and industrial upgrading brought about by digital transformation. The electricity-saving effect of digital transformation is particularly prominent in cities with large populations and large economic sizes. In addition, we also find that digital transformation has a more significant impact on reducing electricity consumption in the industrial sector than in the household sector. Our findings provide empirical evidence for reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions through digital technology applications.