Demand side management: overview, issues and conclusions Dr. Hannah Devine-Wright & Dr. Patrick Devine-Wright Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development De Montfort University Institute Of Energy And Sustainable Development

Summary Background to Supergen Project Demand Side Management: reduce and/or shift electricity demand using load management and time-of-use methods Description of technical/economic; behavioural and sociological research perspectives Identification of four overlapping issues Potential for integration Conclusions Institute Of Energy And Sustainable Development

The Supergen project Climate change – ambitious carbon reduction targets in UK energy policy for 2010 and 2050 Problems: inefficient fossil-fuel plants, expensive to build new plant (e.g. nuclear) Solutions: reduce overall and peak demand using demand side management (DSM) and increase renewable electricity generation Supergen: 4 year multi-disciplinary academic consortium investigating UK electricity system evolution Institute Of Energy And Sustainable Development

Technical-economic perspectives Objective: Change consumer behaviour But user assumed to be: naïve, passive and lazy Goal 1: maximise technical and economic efficiencies Goal 2: minimise inconvenience to consumers e.g. load shedding infringes convenience (Newborough and Augood, 1999) Methods commonly used: –‘Technological fix’ e.g. efficient appliances –‘Economic fix’ e.g. price incentives –‘Information deficit’ e.g. KWh feedback Results in emphasis upon management (DSM) rather than participation (DSP) (Gellings, 1996) Use of aggregated and averaged data (e.g. Strathclyde ‘Merit’) rather than empirical household data (Stokes, 2004) Institute Of Energy And Sustainable Development

Psychological perspectives Studies have evaluated the singular or combined effect of external ‘structural’ factors as IVs on behaviour - incentives, information, number and type of appliances (e.g. Brandon and Lewis, 1999; Colbourne et al., 1999) ‘Contours’ of research activity apparent since 1970s typically using questionnaires and/or experimental designs Relative absence of conceptual modelling, although some reference to TRA (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) and NAM (Schwartz, 1977) used in studies during early 1980s (e.g. Linz and Heberlein, 1984) Recent insights from applied psychology can inform the next ‘contour’: –Reviews of behavioural change strategies: Participation - commitment - action (e.g. Gardner and Stern, 2002) –New insights into service provision: Halpern et al. (2004) personal responsibility and the concept of co-provision Institute Of Energy And Sustainable Development

Sociological perspectives Socialisation structures individual perception and action and this varies across time Results in great variation in energy use ( % according to Hackett and Lutzenhiser, 1991) Typically use ‘critical analysis’ and/or qualitative methods (e.g. interviews and focus groups) Critique of individual focus resulted in socio-technical perspective e.g. social construction of consumption (e.g. Guy and Marvin, 1998) convenience and comfort (e.g. Shove, 2003) and unpicking ‘lay mental models’ (e.g. Kempton and Montgomery, 1982) Critical of behavioural ‘add-ons’ to technical-economic perspectives and policy/funding implications (e.g. Lutzenhiser and Shove, 1996) Institute Of Energy And Sustainable Development

Issues raised 1.Diverse rather than monolithic view of use/users (e.g. Stokes et al., 2004; Hackett and Lutzenhiser, 1991; Stern and Aronson, 1984) 2.Active rather than passive view of use/users and participation-commitment-action framework for behavioural change (Gardner and Stern, 2002) 3.Knowledges rather than knowledge – design and use issues 4.Convenience and comfort are more than just technical issues Institute Of Energy And Sustainable Development

Potential 1.Individual barriers as social opportunities (Shove et al., 1998) 2.Emphasis upon activity as well as action 3.Integration of lay and expert knowledge into technical system design and management 4.Development of better models and perspectives (Stern, 2000; Lutzenhiser et al., 1997) Institute Of Energy And Sustainable Development

Conclusions Institute Of Energy And Sustainable Development 1.Adopt an integrated rather than an ‘additive’ approach in collaboration with Supergen technical and economic partners 2.Critically assess a model of participation (DSP) rather than management (DSM) - especially relevant for local embedded generation 3.Compare how expert and lay knowledge influence design, operation and maintenance of electricity generation, distribution and supply at different scales (e.g. local: community ESCos and micro: SMART appliances/homes) 4.Investigate relationship between participatory models and knowledge perspectives in light of participation-commitment- action model (Gardner and Stern, 2002)

Thank you Institute Of Energy And Sustainable Development