{"id":18993,"date":"2012-01-28T13:26:43","date_gmt":"2012-01-28T21:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=18993"},"modified":"2012-01-28T13:26:43","modified_gmt":"2012-01-28T21:26:43","slug":"war-of-watts-neighbors-compete-for-lowest-energy-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/01\/28\/war-of-watts-neighbors-compete-for-lowest-energy-use\/","title":{"rendered":"War of Watts: Neighbors Compete for Lowest Energy Use"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pitting neighbors against one another isn’t always a bad thing<\/strong>...is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hear the companion radio feature to this post on KQED’s<\/em> The California Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cKeeping Up With the Joneses,\u201d the 1920s-era comic strip<\/a> that inspired the catch-phrase of the same name, is a classic reminder of the ridiculous lengths we sometimes go to just to impress our neighbors. The need to \u201ckeep up\u201d has driven plenty of neighborhoods into frenzies of conspicuous consumption\u2014fueling spending sprees on everything from pink socks and fur-lined miniskirts<\/a>, to microwaves and McMansions.\u00a0 But can that same impulse really inspire a trend in “non-consumption?”<\/p>\n

According to a growing body of research<\/a> [PDF download] by environmental economists and behavioral psychologists, the answer is a resounding: Yes! Here are some of interesting nuggets to come out of that research.<\/p>\n

How Much Energy Do You Really Save?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hunt Allcott<\/a>, an economist at New York University has studied the results of efficiency campaigns that appeal to what the experts call \u201csocial norms.\u201d\u00a0 He looked at Opower<\/a>, a company that has partnered with dozens of energy utilities across the country to send customers \u201chome energy report cards\u201d that let people know how their energy use compares to their neighbors.\u00a0 According to his calculations, households receiving these reports lower their overall energy consumption by 2% on average.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile that may not sound like a lot\u201d Allcott says, it\u2019s a lot of bang for less than a buck.\u00a0\u00a0 (Make that 60 cents, which is about how much it costs utility companies to send out these reports every few months, though Opower won\u2019t disclose the exact price.) \u201cIt ends up being an especially cost-effective approach for utilities\u201d Allcott says, many of which are now are now legally required to take steps to help their customers save energy.<\/p>\n

Inspiring people to save energy with a little neighborly competition may also be a more politically palatable approach, than, say, jacking up prices to get customers to cut back on their energy consumption.\u00a0 Allcott estimates you\u2019d have to raise energy prices by 10% to get the kind of energy savings that these home energy reports have sparked.<\/p>\n

If You Do Your Part, I\u2019ll Do Mine<\/strong><\/p>\n

The idea that social comparisons would spur people to consume less energy goes against conventional economic wisdom, according to economist Paul Ferraro<\/a> at Georgia State University, who studies efficiency strategies that play on social norms. \u201cIf you look at any typical economic textbook that characterizes human behavior it tends to focus on private benefits,\u201d Ferraro says.\u00a0 \u201cWe act for our own selfish good. We care about profits. We care about our own satisfaction.\u201d\u00a0 Using that logic, the idea that we\u2019d start being more energy efficient just to keep up with our neighbors doesn\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One theory about what\u2019s going on here is something called \u201cconditional cooperation.\u201d As NYU\u2019s Allcott explains, even if you care about climate change, one of the things that\u2019s especially challenging is that it feels like it\u2019s such a big global, daunting\u00a0 problem. \u201cWe feel like if I do something it\u2019s not really going to have an impact\u2014there are so many people out there that are not doing anything.\u201d Allcott says one of the nice things about social comparisons \u201cis that you help people to see that we\u2019re all part of a group and if we all conserve together that actually will have a big impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Risks of Conspicuous Non-consumption<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reducing your energy footprint to keep up with your neighbors may not always lead to the most efficient outcomes, warns Ferraro. \u201cIf it\u2019s about how others perceive me, then I might take actions that might not be the most cost-effective, but are the most visible to my neighbors.\u201d\u00a0 Instead of, for example, improving the insulation in your attic to reduce your electricity use, Ferraro says \u201cI might instead install solar panels on my roof where everybody can see that I\u2019m doing something for the environment.\u201d Even if that\u2019s not the most cost-effective way for\u00a0 you to reduce their energy use.<\/p>\n