Conservation agreements with households: DSM taken a step further

Panel: Panel 4: Human Dimensions

Authors:
Anne-K. Arvola, University of Helsinki, Dept. of Social Psychology
Pirkko A. Kasanen, University of Helsinki, Dept. of Social Psychology

Abstract

On a general level, energy conservation efforts are motivated by environmental concerns and more specifically, mternationally agreed goals concerning reduction of emissions, most importantly C02. On a concrete level, energy saving can be motivated by collective welfare interests or by individual utility seeking. In some countries energy prices are not high enough to constitute effective private incentives. Attitudes are generally positive towards protecting the environment, so that the collective motive could be pursued.

However, if it is unclear how large the conservation task is, what one? individual share in it is, and whether the others are domg their share, it is difficult to maintain a sense of collective effort.

We outline an agreement system for the household sector that addresses these issues. We combine elements from two existing practices, i.e. energy conservation agreements in the industrial sector and DSM with households, chosen because of the relatively important role of commitment in them, compared with more open-ended conservation campaigns.

The first step is to define concrete goals. Political decisions on overa conservation targets are needed. General targets are translated into average household electricity and heating consumption figures. A finer level of target values can be calculated, based on information on the variation in consumption due to technical, demographic and other differences.

The next step is to ensure commitment. Energy companies would offer their customers energy deals based on the target values. The customers would then get help m improving their energy efficiency. Finally, problems inherent m this suggestion are discussed.