Progress and Potential in Evaluating Energy Efficiency Programs

Abstract

Evaluation of energy-efficiency programs has come of age. Substantial progress has been made during the past decade in the development of methods to measure the cost and performance of such programs. These developments inlcude: use of quasi-experimental designs; use of fuel- consumption data to measure energy savings; weather-normalization of fuel-consumption data; consideration of nonresponse bias, self-selection, take-back and free riders; evaluation of long-term program effects; integration of outcomes and process evaluations; and use of data from a variety of sources. Program evaluators will face new challenges during the 1990s, largely because the role of energy-efficiency programs will expand greatly. These challenges include: integration of evaluation results with forecasts of energy use; conversion of evaluation results into a form useful for program planning; and development of standardized methods to conduct evaluations and to report evaluation results.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Argonne National Laboratory. 1989. Energy conservation program evaluation: Conservation and resource management . Proceedings of the 23-25 August 1989 conference . Argonne, IL.

Brown, M. A., and K. M. Keating , eds. 1989. [Special issue devoted to the Hood River Conservation Project] Energy and Buildings 13, no. 1 (February).

Ecker, L. , M. Parti , and M. Dion. 1989. A comparison study of energy savings methodologies. In Demand-side management strategies for the 90s. Proceedings of the Fourth National Conference on Utility DSM Programs, April, EPRI CU-6367. Palo Alto, CA: Electric Power Research Institute.

Fels, M.F. 1986. PRISM: An introduction. Energy and Buildings 9, nos. 1, 2 (February/May):5-18.

Goeltz, R. , and E. Hirst. 1987. Comparison of a weather-adjustment method with end-use load data for residential electricity use. Resources and Energy 9:91-103.

Hewett, M.J. , T.S. Dunsworth , T.A. Miller , and M.J. Koehler. 1986. Measured versus predicted savings from single retrofits: A sample study. Energy and Buildings 9, nos. 1, 2 (February/ May):65-73.

Hirst, E. 1989. Evaluating energy efficiency programs: A personal view of progress and potential. In Energy conservation program evaluation: Conservation and resource management. Proceedings of the 23-25 August 1989 conference, 511-22. Argonne, IL: Argonne National Laboratory.

Hirst, E. , and R. Goeltz. 1984a. Estimating energy savings due to conservation programmes: The BPA residential weatherization pilot programme . Energy Economics 7, no. 1 (January): 20-28.

—. 1984b. Testing for nonresponse bias: Evaluation of utility energy conservation programs. Evaluation Review 8, no. 2 (April):269-78.

10.

Keating, K. M., ed. 1988, August. Program evaluation. In Proceedings of the 1988 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings. Washington, DC: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

11.

Kushler, M. , and P. Witte. 1988. A case study in program improvement: The development and evaluation of a new weatherization measures system in Michigan. Proceedings of the 1988 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, vol. 9, Program evaluation, 58-70. Washington, DC: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy .

12.

Moskovitz, D.H. 1989. Cutting the nation's electric bill. Issues in Science and Technology V no. 3 (Spring):88-93.

13.

Schlegel, J. , and S. Pigg. 1989. Toward a common method of reporting and comparing results from evaluations of residential conservation programs . In Energy program evaluation: Conservation and resource management. Proceedings of the 23-25 August 1989 conference. Argonne, IL: Argonne National Laboratory.

14.

Schweitzer, M. , M.A. Brown , and D.L. White. 1989. Electricity savings one and two years after weatherization: A study of 1986 participants in Bonneville's residential weatherization program, ORNL/CON-289. Oak Ridge, TN: Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

15.

Sumi, D.H. , and B. Coates. 1989. Persistence of energy savings in a residential weatherization program. In Energy conservation program evaluation: Conservation and resource management. Proceedings of the 23-25 August 1989 conference, 311-16. Argonne, IL : Argonne National Laboratory .

16.

Ternes, M.P. , and T.K. Stovall. 1988. The effect of house indoor temperature on measured and predicted energy savings. In Proceedings of the 1988 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, vol. 9, Program evaluation, 169-81. Washington, DC: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

17.

Train, K.E. , and P.C. Ignelzi. 1987. The economic value of energy-saving investments by commercial and industrial firms. Energy 12, no. 7 (July):543-53.

18.

Van Liere, K.D. , P.R. Rathbun , and B. Tannenbaum. 1989. Factors affecting response rates in commercial and industrial customer surveys. In Energy conservation program evaluation: Conservation and resource management. Proceedings of the 23-25 August 1989 conference, 427-32. Argonne, IL: Argonne National Laboratory .