Changing energy demand behavior: Potential of demand-side management

Abstract

There is a great theoretical potential to save resources by managing our demand for energy. However, demand-side management (DSM) programs targeting behavioral patterns of energy consumption face several challenges. One of the most important ones is the challenge of sustaining the changed behavior. People may respond to intensive incentives and encouragement in the short term, but if their social and physical context does not change, they will easily revert to their old behaviors once the interventions end. It is also important to realize that different types of behaviors depend on different mechanisms: one-shot behaviors like the purchasing of an energy-efficient appliance are different from routine behaviors like turning off lights. It is in the latter that achieving lasting change presents an enormous challenge. This chapter introduces a socio-technical approach to energy DSM. Rather than focusing merely on individuals and their motivation to change, a sociotechnical approach acknowledges that individual behaviors are nested within broader societal change processes. People learn much of their behavior from other people and from their immediate physical environment. Change interventions need to be accompanied by changes in culturally shared norms and values and supported by adequate technologies, policies, regulations, and infrastructures. Successful DSM programs require a good understanding of how energy consumption is shaped by everyday life routines and cultural conventions. They also require a good understanding of the target group and their concerns. This kind of understanding helps program managers to change the context or make the change fit the context, make energy consumption visible, to time their interventions appropriately, and to involve the relevant stakeholders in their program. Several instruments are commonly used in DSM programs. These include financial instruments, information and education, metering and feedback, energy audits and advice, and voluntary programs and commitments. A socio-technical approach suggests that there is no "one-size-fits-all" instrument, but that the best combination of instruments needs to be tailored for each target group, targeted behavior change and context. This chapter offers advice and examples on how to tailor instruments to their context, as well as highlights from an online toolkit to help program managers in this task. In conclusion, an example is offered on how to shift electricity demand from one period to another. The key message is that interventions should be tailored to the specific contexts in which they are employed, building on a good understanding of how energy use is embedded in the users' everyday life and its social and physical surroundings.