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The Economics of Utility Residential Energy Conservation Programs: A Pacific Northwest Example

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  • Eric Hirst
  • Richard Goeltz

Abstract

The bottom line for any utility conservation program is its overall worth: whether program costs are justified by the value of the electricity savings. That is, are these programs worthwhile investments to utility customers that participate in the programs, customers that do not participate, the utility system, and society as a whole? How sensitive are estimates of program worth to the input parameters (program-induced energy savings, discount rates, future average and marginal electricity prices)? This paper discusses our assessment of program benefits and costs for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Residential Weatherization Pilot Program. Unlike other assessments, the present work is based on a detailed empirical evaluation of the program. We collected enough data from both program participants and nonparticipants to analyze the actual energy savings that could be attributed to the BPA program. We also obtained information on actual program costs. This information was used to compute the Net Present Worth (NPW) of the program from the perspectives of program participants, the BPA power system, and the Pacific Northwest region as a whole.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric Hirst & Richard Goeltz, 1984. "The Economics of Utility Residential Energy Conservation Programs: A Pacific Northwest Example," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 159-170.
    • Handle: RePEc:aen:journl:1984v05-03-a11
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    Cited by:

    1. Gilbert E. Metcalf & Kevin A. Hassett, 1999. "Measuring The Energy Savings From Home Improvement Investments: Evidence From Monthly Billing Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(3), pages 516-528, August.
    2. Joshua Graff Zivin & Kevin Novan, 2016. "Upgrading Efficiency and Behavior: Electricity Savings from Residential Weatherization Programs," The Energy Journal, , vol. 37(4), pages 1-24, October.
    3. Dulleck, Uwe & Kaufmann, Sylvia, 2004. "Do customer information programs reduce household electricity demand?--the Irish program," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1025-1032, June.
    4. Lauren Giandomenico & Maya Papineau & Nicholas Rivers, 2022. "A Systematic Review of Energy Efficiency Home Retrofit Evaluation Studies," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 689-708, October.
    5. Dixon, Gene & Abdel-Salam, Tarek & Kauffmann, Paul, 2010. "Evaluation of the effectiveness of an energy efficiency program for new home construction in eastern North Carolina," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 1491-1496.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F0 - International Economics - - General

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