Is Advanced Real-Time Energy Metering Sufficient to Persuade People to Save Energy?

Abstract

In order to promote a low-carbon economy, EU citizens may soon be able to check their electricity consumption from smart meter. It is hoped that smart meter can, by providing real-time consumption and pricing information to residential users, help reducing demand for electricity. It is argued in this paper that, according the Elaborative Likelihood Model (ELM), these methods are most likely to be effective when consumers perceive the issue of energy conservation relevant to their lives. Nevertheless, some fundamental characteristics of these methods result in limited amount of perceived personal relevance; for instance, energy expenditure expense may be relatively small comparing to other household expenditure like mortgage and consumption information does not enhance interpersonal trust. In this paper, it is suggested that smart meter can apply the “nudge” approaches which respond to ELM as the use of simple rules to make decision, which include the change of feedback delivery and device design.