Stated Willingness to Pay for Residential Renewable Electricity and Green Jobs in Aguascalientes, Mexico

Abstract

Via a discrete choice experiment, this paper documents that residential electricity consumers in Aguascalientes, Mexico, are willing to pay a premium for renewable energies as well as for the creation of green jobs. These results are particularly timely because the current Federal administration has redirected priorities from an energy transition that was expected to boost renewable energies to the pursuing of energy sovereignty. Concerns regarding this prioritization have been raised by national and international stakeholders due to its potential economic inefficiency and its implications for the achievement of climate change goals. These concerns have only intensified as discussions begin on how Mexico should face the post-coronavirus recession. This paper’s findings open the door to discuss whether a combination of a just energy transition together with the boosting of renewable energies should be part of a strategy to reach energy sovereignty at the same time that Mexico deals with a post-coronavirus world.