Residential willingness to pay for deep decarbonization of electricity supply: Contingent valuation evidence from Hong Kong

Y.S. Cheng, K.H. Cao, C.K. Woo*, A. Yatchew

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

    19 Citations (Scopus)
    76 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Motivated by the government's proposed target of reducing CO2 emissions by 30% of the 2005 level in the year 2020, we estimate the residential willingness-to-pay (WTP) for deep decarbonization of Hong Kong's electricity supply, which is heavily dependent on coal-fired generation. Our contingent valuation survey conducted in 2016 of 1460 households yields dichotomous choice data based on the respondents’ answers to a series of closed-ended questions. Such data are less susceptible to the strategic bias that often plagues self-stated WTP data obtained by direct elicitation via open-ended questions. Using binary choice models, we find that average WTP is 48–51%, relative to current bills, if the decarbonization target is achieved via natural gas generation and renewable energy. However, estimated WTP declines to 32–42% when decarbonization entails additional nuclear imports from China. As the projected bill increase caused by the target's implementation is 40%, our WTP estimates support the government's fuel mix policy of using natural gas and renewable energy to displace Hong Kong's coal generation.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)218-227
    Number of pages10
    JournalEnergy Policy
    Volume109
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 2017

    Scopus Subject Areas

    • General Energy
    • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

    User-Defined Keywords

    • Contingent valuation
    • Electricity decarbonization
    • Hong Kong
    • Residential willingness-to-pay

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