We've now sprung ahead -- ostensibly to save lots of energy -- but it turns out that daylight savings (concept attributed to Ben Franklin) really doesn't accomplish that goal very well. Two economists from University of California at Santa Barbara, Matthew Kotchen and Laura Grant, using data from Indiana suggest that it not only fails to save electricity but may actually increase costs to consumers in terms of electricity and environmental impact (NBER Working Paper No. 14429, a short article is here).
A Department of Energy study concluded that the practice saves 0.03% of electricty consumed over a year or 0.02% of the total US energy consumption in 2007. A savings but hardly impressive. Its actual impact may vary from location to location around the country, save Arizona and Hawaii where folks haven't found a need for the practice.
The DOE study found "statistically insignificant" changes in gasoline consumption which challanges one of my pet theories for DST: it prompts you to go to the mall after work, rather than home 'cause its dark, which is why retailers argue for it. Maybe the most powerful explanation for continuing the practice is golf.
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