Replication data for: Charging Ahead: Prepaid Metering, Electricity Use, and Utility Revenue

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Kelsey Jack; Grant Smith

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data			05/30/2025 12:59:PM
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Project Citation:

Jack, Kelsey, and Smith, Grant. Replication data for: Charging Ahead: Prepaid Metering, Electricity Use, and Utility Revenue. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2020. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-05-30. https://doi.org/10.3886/E231468V1

Project Description

Summary: Monthly bills for services such as electricity often go unpaid in developing countries. Prepaid meters offer a potential technological solution. In Cape Town, South Africa, over 4,000 residential customers on monthly billing were switched to prepaid metering, with random variation in the timing of the switch. In response, electricity use falls by 14 percent, driven at least in part by an increase in marginal price sensitivity. The decrease in revenue to the municipal electric utility is more than offset by lower revenue recovery costs. Switching poorer and more in-debt customers generates the greatest net revenue gains to the utility.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      L94 Electric Utilities
      L98 Industry Studies: Utilities and Transportation: Government Policy
      O13 Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products
      Q41 Energy: Demand and Supply; Prices
      Q48 Energy: Government Policy

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Published Versions

V1 [2025-05-30]

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