Energy use falls when neighbors compete
One of the best ways to save energy and cut carbon emissions isn鈥檛 the much-touted 鈥渟mart grid,鈥� low-watt light bulbs, or high-tech appliances 鈥� it鈥檚 a little neighborly competition.
Just ask Sacramento resident Kat Kelly, who last year began getting a new 鈥渉ome energy report鈥� from her utility company that compared her family鈥檚 electricity use directly with her neighbors鈥�.
On the report, one bar chart rated her family鈥檚 electricity use against the average of 100 neighbors with similar sized houses 鈥� and also of her 20 most energy-efficient neighbors. The report had three rating levels: 鈥渂elow average,鈥� a smiley face for a 鈥済ood,鈥� or two smileys for a 鈥済reat!鈥� average.
A self-described 鈥渃ompetitive person,鈥� Ms. Kelly says she was shocked to learn that her family not only failed to get a smiley, it received a 鈥渂elow average鈥� rating. That same day, she began turning off lights, changing the thermostat, and switching off her power strips 鈥� anything to save juice and win future smiley faces.
鈥淚t got my competitive spirit going,鈥� Kelly says. 鈥淚 wanted to be one of the
energy conservers in my neighborhood.鈥�
Her reaction is not unusual. Some say it鈥檚 the power of competition 鈥� the desire to keep up (or in this case 鈥渄own鈥�) with the Joneses. Others say it鈥檚 just logical
decisionmaking. Whatever it is, the simple act of informing residents about their neighbors鈥� power use can be like firing a starting gun in a race to save energy, researchers say.
Improving residential energy efficiency is critical to combating climate change since it equals about 35 percent of total US energy use and 15 percent of total US greenhouse-gas emissions, federal data show.
Over the decades, Americans have become more frugal with energy. But thousands of tiny personal choices around the house could substantially cut energy use.
How much? The 鈥渉uman dimension鈥� in energy consumption could whack household energy use 22 percent nationwide 鈥� a 12 percent reduction in overall US energy consumption, according to a new American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). By comparison, all solar, geothermal, and wind power consumed last year amounted to about 1 percent of US energy use.
Yet human impact has been largely ignored by electric utilities. Instead, their efficiency programs have focused mostly on 鈥渨idget based鈥� programs that pay rebates for efficient appliances, for instance.
But with new state laws boosting efficiency requirements, widget programs are reaching their limits. That鈥檚 pushing dozens of utilities to experiment.
鈥淓nergy is very much an invisible commodity for most people,鈥� says Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez, an ACEEE researcher. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like pumping gas into your car. It flows invisibly into the house, and you don鈥檛 know anything until you get the bill. We need people to have all the information so they can make better choices.鈥�
Widely used on college campuses today to combat binge drinking, a 鈥渟ocial norms鈥� approach surveys and then publishes data to make plain to students that campus drinking levels are (almost always) far lower than they think. Less binge drinking is the frequent result.
The social-norms approach has also been applied to curb gambling and environmental pollution, and to promote health choices. Online retailers use it to encourage purchases when they tell visitors that 鈥渃ustomers who bought the items in your shopping cart also bought....鈥�
鈥淭he middle is a magnet for behavior,鈥� says Robert Cialdini, professor emeritus of psychology at Arizona State University and a pioneer on the social-norms impact on energy use. 鈥淲hat you find is people who are in the outlying areas as violators of the desirable behavior will move to the middle when they learn they鈥檙e outliers.鈥�
That鈥檚 what the Sacra颅men颅to Municipal Utility District (SMUD) in California found when its social-norms pilot tests over the past year cut energy demand by 2 percent 鈥� just by telling folks how their energy use compared with their neighbors鈥�. That drop may sound puny, but SMUD saved 9.5 billion watt-hours, equal to the electricity use of 1,000 average homes for a year.
The Kelly family, for instance, cut its energy use 10 percent 鈥� and have yet to win a smiley face. But Kat Kelly and thousands like her have SMUD officials smiling.
鈥淓ven those folks who received the 鈥榊ou are below average鈥� message from us saved, and actually saved the most of any other group,鈥� says Alexandra Crawford, a SMUD project manager. At least two dozen utilities nationwide are experimenting with saving energy this way.
鈥淵ou aren鈥檛 born knowing what your utility bill should be or 鈥楢m I using more than I need to?鈥� 鈥� says Daniel Yates, president of OPOWER, in Arlington, Va., which analyzes SMUD customer energy use and pioneered using smiley faces. 鈥淵ou know people think a Prius is a good thing and a Humvee is bad,鈥� he says. 鈥淲ell, a lot of Prius owners have Humvee houses and don鈥檛 even know it.鈥�
While OPOWER focuses on developing reports like those SMUD sent by mail, others are putting it on the Internet.
At Efficiency 2.0, a New York-based software provider to utility companies, Andy Frank鈥檚 team is working with the Western Massachusetts Elec颅tricity Company to create a Facebook-like community where people can help one another save energy and compare results in a friendly, yet competitive way.
Online comparisons come with frowny or smiley faces and also give people highly customized tips about how they can reduce their energy use. It offers, for instance, a calculator tallying myriad decisions 鈥� take shorter showers, adjust thermostat settings, or hand-wash dishes.
鈥淲e鈥檙e like Weight Watchers for your energy use,鈥� says Mr. Frank, Efficiency 2.0鈥檚 executive vice president for business development. 鈥淢ost Americans would like to lose weight, but they don鈥檛 do it because they don鈥檛 get feedback. We provide that feedback [to cut energy use].鈥�
Wendy Penner loves that feedback. Her website profile tells the community of users that she has chosen to hand- wash her dishes in cold water, saving 238 pounds per year of carbon dioxide and knocking $45 off her energy bill.
When those results didn鈥檛 satisfy her, Ms. Penner further pledged to dial down her water heater temperature from 135 to 115 degrees F., saving 626 pounds of CO2 and $92 worth of fuel annually. Overall, she鈥檚 lowered her personal energy use by 1.4 percent and is on track to save $190 per year and 1,120 lbs. of CO2.
That hasn鈥檛 won her a smiley face yet, though. Until recently, her page sported a frowny face because she鈥檚 doing better on energy use than only 25 percent of the community at large. She would like to be competing against a group of 鈥渆nergy friends,鈥� but doesn鈥檛 have any since the site has only been running a month.
鈥淭his is really a very powerful tool and I like it a lot,鈥� Penner says. 鈥淭he motivation from it is pretty strong. People really don鈥檛 like getting the frowny faces.鈥� (In fact, SMUD and others have nixed frowny faces after some negative reactions.)
Commonwealth Edison, a Chicago-area utility, is pleased overall with its program, which is similar to SMUD鈥檚.
鈥淚n a few cases we鈥檝e been accused of being agents of some secret service spying on them,鈥� says Val Jensen, vice president for marketing and environmental programs for Commonwealth Edison. 鈥淏ut that kind of reaction has been in the low single digits. Only one homeowner has said, 鈥楽top sending me this.鈥� 鈥�
When Dennis Boland, a stock-index trader from Glenview, Ill., got his new home energy report from Commonwealth Edison last month, he was aghast.
The report showed that the 20 most efficient homes in Mr. Boland鈥檚 neighborhood used about 587 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month, while his group of 100 neighbors used 1,150 kWh per month. And Boland鈥檚 home? Try 1,987 kWh monthly 鈥� 92 percent more than the average.
鈥淢y first observation when I read the report was: 鈥業 am a pig!鈥� 鈥� he says. 鈥淚 knew I was paying a lot every month for electricity, but I thought everyone was. I didn鈥檛 know I was such a glutton.鈥�
Even though it made him feel guilty, Boland says he was also grateful. Now he鈥檚 changing his thermostat setting to reduce his air-conditioning load and looking for other ways to save energy 鈥� and money.
He鈥檚 eager to see the next report to determine if he鈥檚 off the 鈥渂elow average鈥� list. 鈥淚 hope more power companies will pick up on this,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd not be afraid to tell their users: 鈥榊ou鈥檙e below average鈥� or maybe, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e a pig!鈥� 鈥�
[Editor's Note: The original version of this article referred to OPOWER by its previous name, Positive Energy.]
