Abstract
This paper presents results from the second phase (45 days, from mid-January to February, 2014) of a trial to evaluate the impact of peak saving interventions: (1) a tiered rate with increasing-tier prices that apply to usage during each 30-minute period, (2) real-time feedback on electricity usage via an in-home display, (3) weekly reports that provide neighbor comparison and peak saving information, and (4) an email alert to reduce peak usage. Through a randomized experiment, we found that the total average treatment effect of the four measures was around 10% on the condominium’s peak time (7-10pm), which was statistically significant. The saving effects have been eventually increasing through the trial, implying the influences of the awareness change on the interventions over time, or the seasonal difference of energy efficiency behaviors. In addition, the results from analyzing air conditioners’ usage data suggested that roughly half of peak saving is likely to be from saving on air conditioner usage, for example by decreasing temperature setting. Furthermore, the interventions had very small impacts on the households’ gas usage at most, implying that gas usage were not stimulated by our intervention for saving electricity usage.
