Electricity demand or load is the amount of electrical power absorbed at a specific time in a transmission or distribution grid. This measure represents all sectors (residential, industrial, services, etc.) and can be affected by several factors, such as the economic growth, the price of energy or the applied measures for energy efficiency.
Climatic variables can influence electricity demand. In fact, the use of cooling and heating equipment is strictly related to the temperature and other variables influencing how we perceive the temperature (e.g. wind speed and humidity). Moreover, demand is also affected by the self-consumption of renewable energy sources, commonly photovoltaic panels, that somehow act as a negative demand factor. This is particularly important in countries that experience a growth in the penetration of renewable sources.