Mabugu, TichinasheInglesi-Lotz, Roula2022-03-162022Tichinashe Mabugu & Roula Inglesi-Lotz (2022): The effect of mismatched supply and demand of electricity on economic growth in South Africa, Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy, 17:1, 2038731, DOI: 10.1080/15567249.2022.2038731.1556-7249 (print)1556-7257 (online)10.1080/15567249.2022.2038731http://hdl.handle.net/2263/84502Since 2008, the South African economy has experienced several power cuts (unplanned or as part of a load-shedding schedule), presumably because of the inability of the electricity supply to cover the demand. This paper examines the impact of such a demand-supply mismatch on the country’s economic growth within a production function framework. To do so, we use an Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) for the period 1985 to 2019. The paper finds that a positive mismatch (or surplus) of electricity (supply>demand) boosts economic growth in the long run. This finding provides evidence that supports the necessity of electricity supply expansion and the promotion of energy efficiency measures that both will create a mismatch (surplus) conducive to economic growth.en© 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an electronic version of an article published in Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning and Policy, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1-18, 2022. doi : 10.1080/15567249.2022.2038731. Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning and Policy is available online at : http://www.tandfonline.comloi/geno20.ElectricityEnergySouth Africa (SA)MismatchPostprint Article