Summary

Electrical energy consumption in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia is modeled as a function of weather data, global solar radiation, population, and gross domestic product per capita. Five years of data have been used to develop the energy consumption model. Variation selection in the regression model is carried out by using the general stepping-regression technique. Model adequacy is determined from a residual analysis technique. Model validation aims to determine if the model will function successfully in its intended operating field. In this regard, new energy consumption data for a sixth year are collected, and the results predicted by the regression model are compared with the new data set. Finally, the sensitivity of the model is examined. It is found that the model is strongly influenced by the ambient temperature