Evolution Characteristics of the Spatiotemporal Pattern of Electricity Power Consumption in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Revealing the dynamic characteristics of the temporal and spatial evolution of electricity power consumption (EPC) is of great significance for realizing the scientific allocation and rational utilization of electricity power resources. Therefore, based on the EPC data extracted from the DMSP/OLS nighttime light data, this paper takes the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) as an example, and uses various methods such as coefficient of variation, Kernel density analysis, rank-scale rule, trend analysis, and standard deviation ellipse. The evolution characteristics of the spatiotemporal pattern of EPC at the provincial, prefecture and county levels in the YREB were analyzed. The results show that: (1) Through the coefficient of variation (CV), we found that the coefficient of variation (CV) of EPC in the YREB showed a downward trend at the provincial, prefecture and county levels. Specifically, the county-level EPC has the largest difference, followed by the provincial and prefecture-level. (2) Through the kernel density analysis, we found that the EPC agglomeration degree in the YREB obviously shows the characteristics of decreasing from the east to the central and western regions. (3) Through the rank-scale rule, it is found that the |q| value of the YREB has been in a downward trend during the research period at the provincial, prefecture and county scales, and the |q| value is constantly approaching 1. It directly shows that the scale and quantity distribution of EPC in the YREB at the provincial, prefecture and county levels are becoming more and more reasonable. (4) Through trend analysis, we found that the changes in EPC in the YREB at the provincial, prefecture and county scales all obviously showed a decreasing trend from the east to the central and western regions. (5) Through the standard deviation ellipse (SDE), we found that the standard deviation ellipse of the EPC in the YREB obviously shows the spatial distribution direction of “Southwest-Northeast”, and the directionality to the Yangtze River Delta is very obvious, which directly indicates that the promotion of the YREB that the main driving force behind the growth in EPC is the increase in EPC in the east-west direction.