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Speaker: Alex Laskey
Topic: how behavioral science can lower your energy bill
How many of you have checked your email today? Come on, raise your hands. How many of you are checking it right now?
How many of you checked your mailbox today? Come on, hands up. How many people are checking it now?
And how about finances? Anybody check that today? Credit card, investment account? How about this week?
What about the fund account? Has anyone checked it today? Credit cards, investment accounts? Have you checked this week?
Now, how about your household energy use? Anybody check that today? This week? Last week? A few energy geeks spread out across the room. It’s good to see you guys. But the rest of us — this is a room filled with people who are passionate ab out the future of this planet, and even we aren’t paying attention to the energy use that’s driving climate change.
What about household energy use? Has anyone checked that today? This week? What about last week? There are some energy geeks in this room. Nice to meet you. But the rest of us, this is a room full of people who are passionate about the future of this planet, but we don’t care about the energy consumption that causes climate warming.
The woman in the photo with me is Harriet. We met her on our first family vacation. Harriet’s paying attention to her energy use, and she is decidedly not an energy geek. This is the story of how Harriet came to pay attention.
The woman with me in this photo is Harriet. We met her on our first family holiday. Harriet is paying attention to her energy use. There is no doubt that she is not an energy geek. This is the story of why Harriet pays attention to energy.
This is coal, the most common source of electricity on the planet, and there’s enough energy in this coal to light this bulb for more than a year. But unfortunately, between here and here, most of that energy is lost to things like transmission leakage and heat. In fact, only 10 percent ends up as light. So this coal will last a little bit more than a month. If you wanted to light this bulb for a year, you’d need this much coal.
This is coal, the most common power source on the planet. There is enough energy in this coal to make this light bulb light for more than a year. Unfortunately, in the process from here to here, most of this energy was lost because of conduction loss and heat release. In fact, only 10% of energy is finally released in the form of light energy. So this coal can only last for a little more than a month at most. You need so much coal if you want to light this light bulb for a year.
The bad news here is that, for every unit of energy we use, we waste nine. That means there’s good news, because for every unit of energy we save, we save the other nine. So the question is, how can we get the people in this room and across the globe to start paying attention to the energy we’re using, and start wasting less of it?
The bad news is that for every 10% of the energy we use, we waste 90%. This also means that there is good news, that is, for every 10% energy we save, we save the remaining 90%. The question is, how can we make people in this room and people all over the world pay attention to the energy we use and start to reduce waste?
The answer comes from a behavioral science experiment that was run one hot summer, 10 years ago, and only 90 miles from here, in San Marcos, California. Graduate students put signs on every door in a neighborhood, asking people to turn off their air conditioning and turn on their fans. One quarter of the homes received a message that said, did you know you could save 54 dollars a month this summer?
The answer comes from a behavioral science experiment, which was conducted on a hot summer day ten years ago, only 90 miles away in San Marcos, California. Graduate students made a message on every door in a certain block, telling people to turn off the air conditioner and turn on the electric fan. A quarter of families received a message saying, Do you know? You can save $54 a month this summer?
Turn off your air conditioning, turn on your fans. Another group got an environmental message. And still a third group got a message about being good citizens, preventing blackouts. Most people guessed that money-saving message would work best of all. In fact, none of these messages worked. They had zero impact on energy consumption. It was as if the grad students hadn’t shown up at all.
Just turn off the air conditioner and use the electric fan. The other group received messages about the environment. The message the third group got was to be a civilized citizen and prevent power failure. Most people think that messages that save money will be the most effective. In fact, none of the messages worked. They don’t care about these energy consumption problems. It’s as if graduate students haven’t posted these messages.
But there was a fourth message, and this message simply said, "When surveyed, 77 percent of your neighbors said that they turned off their air conditioning and turned on their fans. Please join them. Turn off your air conditioni ng and turn on your fans." And wouldn’t you know it, they did. The people who received this message showed a marked decrease in energy consumption simply by being told what their neighbors were doing.
But there was a fourth message, which simply said, "The survey found that 77% of your neighbors said they turned off the air conditioner and started using electric fans. Please join them. Turn off the air conditioner and turn on the electric fan. " Do you believe it or not? They did it! The people who received this message significantly reduced their energy consumption. Just because I told them what the neighbors were doing.
So what does this tell us? Well, if something is inconvenient, even if we believe in it, moral suasion, financial incentives, don’t do much to move us — but social pressure, that’s powerful stuff. And harnessed correctly, it can be a powerful force for good. In fact, it already is.
What does this tell us? Well, if something is inconvenient, even if we believe it, moral persuasion and economic encouragement will not make us act, but social pressure is strong. If used correctly, it can be a powerful positive energy. In fact, it already is.
Inspired by this insight, my friend Dan Yates and I started a company called Opower. We built software and partnered with utility companies who wanted to help their customers s ave energy. We deliver personalized home energy reports that show people how their consumption compares to their neighbors in similar-sized homes.
Inspired by this, my friend Dan Yates and I started planning a company called "Opower". We develop software and cooperate with public utility companies, which also want to help their customers save energy. We publish personalized home energy reports to show people how much they consume compared with their neighbors with similar houses.
Just like those effective door hangers, we have people comparing themselves to their neighbors, and then we give everyone targeted recommendations to help them save. We started with paper, we moved to a mobile application, web, and now even a controllable thermostat, and for the last five years we’ve been running the largest behavioral science experiment in the world.
Just like those effective messages posted on the door, we ask people to compare themselves with their neighbors and then give targeted suggestions. Help them save. We started with paper, then mobile phone applications, internet, and now even controllable thermostats. In the past five years, we have started the largest behavioral science experiment in the world.
And it’s working. Ordinary homeowners and renters have saved more than 250 million dollars on their energy bills, and we’re just getting started. This year alone, in partnership with more than 80 utilities in six countries, we’re going to generate another two terawatt hours of electricity savings.
It worked. Ordinary homeowners and renters have saved more than $250 on their energy bills, when we were just beginning. Just this year, we have cooperated with more than 80 public institutions in six countries, and we are trying to save another two terawatt-hours (100 million kWh) of electricity.
Now, the energy geeks in the room know two terawatt hours, but for the rest of us, two terawatt hours is more than enough energy to power every home in St. Louis and Salt Lake City combined for more than a year. Two terawatt hours, it’s roughly half what the U.S. solar industry produced last year.
Now, the energy geeks in the house know two terawatt hours, but for us, the remaining two terawatt hours can be used by every household in St. Louis and Salt Lake City for more than a year. Two terawatt hours, about half of the annual output of American solar factories last year.
And two terawatt hours? In terms of coal, we’d need to burn 34 of these wheelbarrows every minute around the clock every day for an entire year to get two terawatt hours of electricity. And we ‘re not burning anything. We’re just motivating people to pay attention and change their behavior.
Just two terawatt hours? If we switch to coal, we need to burn 34 wheelbarrows of this kind of coal every minute, 24 hours a day for a whole year, in order to get two terawatt hours of energy. However, we don’t burn anything, we just inspire people to pay attention and change their behavior.
But we’re just one company, and this is just scratching the surface. Twenty percent of the electricity in homes is wasted, and when I say wasted, I don’t mean that people have inefficient lightbulbs. They may. I mean we leave the lights on in empty rooms, and we leave the air conditioning on when nobody’s home.
But we are just a company, and these are just a drop in the bucket. 20% of the energy in a family is wasted. When I say wasted, I don’t mean that people install some useless light bulbs. They can have it. I mean, we leave lights on in empty rooms, and we still turn on the air conditioner when no one is at home.
That’s 40 billion dollars a year wasted on electricity that does not contribute to our well-being but does contribute to climate change. That’s 40 bill ion — with a B — every year in the U.S. alone. That’s half our coal usage right there.
The $40 billion wasted every year has not contributed to building a well-off society in an all-round way, but it will lead to climate change. That’s $40 billion, in America alone. Half of our coal was used there.
Now thankfully, some of the world’s best material scientists are looking to replace coal with sustainable resources like these, and this is both fantastic and essential. But the most overlooked resource to get us to a sustainable energy future, it isn’t on this slide. It’s in this room. It’s you, and it’s me. And we can harness this resource with no new material science simply by applying behavioral science. We can do it today, we know it works, and it will save us money right away.
Now, fortunately, some of the best materials scientists in the world are looking for sustainable energy instead of coal. Like these, this is amazing and necessary. But most neglected resources lead us to the future of sustainable energy, and the people who can do this are not on this screen. But in this room, you and me. We can make use of this resource without using the latest material science and technology. We can do it today, we know it is feasible, and it will save us money immediately.
So what are we waiting for? Well, in most places, utility regulation hasn’t changed much since Thomas Edison. Utilities are still rewarded when their customers waste energy. They ought to be rewarded for helping their customers save it.
Then what are we waiting for? Well, in most places, the regulation and utilization of energy has not changed much since Edison’s time. Public utilities have been rewarded for customers wasting energy. But they should be rewarded for helping customers save energy.
But this story is much more than about household energy use. Take a look at the Prius. It’s efficient not only because Toyota invested in material scie nce but because they invested in behavioral science. The dashboard that shows drivers how much energy they’re saving in real time makes former speed demons drive more like cautious grandmothers.
But this story is much more than just about the energy use of the family. Look at this Toyota Prius. It is very efficient, not only because Toyota invested in materials science, but also because they invested in behavioral science. The dashboard tells drivers how much energy they have saved in real time. Make the previous speed devil more like a cautious grandmother.
Which brings us back to Harriet. We met her on our first family vacation. She came over to meet my young daughter, and she was tickled to learn that my daughter’s name is also Harriet. She asked me what I did for a living, and I told her, I work with utilities to help people save energy. It was then that her eyes lit up.
This brings us back to Harriet’s story. We met her on our first family holiday. She came to see my little daughter, and she was glad to learn that my daughter’s name was Harriet, too. She asked me what I do, and I told her that I work with public institutions to help people save energy. Just then her eyes lit up.
She looked at me, and she said, "You’re exactly the person I need to talk to. You see, two weeks ago, my husband and I got a letter in the mail from our utility. It told us we were using twice as much energy as our neighbors."
She looked at me and said, "You are the very person I want to communicate with. You see, two weeks ago, my husband and I received a letter from our public utility. Tell us that we use more than twice as much energy as our neighbors. "
"And for the last two weeks, all we can think about, talk about, and even argue about, is what we should be doing to save energy. We did everything that letter told us to do, and still I know there must be more. Now I’m here with a genuine expert. Tell me. What should I do to save energy? "
"In the past two weeks, all we thought, discussed and even argued was what we should do to save energy. We did everything the letter told us, and I knew there must be more. Now I am standing here with a real expert. Tell me. What should I do to save energy? "
There are many experts who can help answer Harriet’s question. My goal is to make sure we are all asking it.
There are many experts who can answer Harriet’s questions. My goal is to make sure that everyone will ask this question.
Thank you.
Thank you.
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