The document summarizes a pre-conference workshop on accelerating residential energy efficiency. It outlines key sources of residential energy demand and challenges to achieving efficiency. These include high transaction costs, individual consumer behavior, information barriers, and financial barriers. Recent interest has been driven by increasing concerns about energy/climate issues and costs. The document notes that energy efficiency is the fastest and cheapest way to achieve carbon reductions and jobs. It discusses Minnesota's goal for utilities to achieve 1.5% annual savings through conservation programs and the need to double current efforts to meet this goal, which are currently achieving only 0.6% savings. Most current savings are in the commercial/industrial sectors. Successful residential efficiency approaches address both technology and behavior,

1. 2009 CERTs Conference
Pre‐conference Workshop:
Accelerating Residential Energy
Efficiency

2. Overview
• Sources of residential energy demand
• Challenges of achieving residential energy
efficiency
• Key drivers for recent resurgence in interest
• Characteristics of successful approaches

3. Residential energy use
Source: US DOE EIA 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Study (cold climate dataset)
Note: Not including transportation

4. Challenges in achieving savings in
residential sector
• High transaction costs.
• Individual consumer behavior plays a large
role in household energy consumption.
• Information and logistical barriers to decision‐
making process.
• Factors other than economics are primary in
consumer decision‐making.
• Financial barriers.

5. Key drivers in resurgence of interest
• Increasing interest in energy/climate issues
• Increasing energy costs
• Minnesota’s 1.5 percent savings goal

6. Energy Efficiency:
fastest & cheapest way to achieve carbon
reductions AND create jobs
Source: ACEEE 2008 Study of Maryland Energy Efficiency Potential

7. Minnesota’s 1.5% EE goal
• Requires all utilities to run conservation
programs that will reduce demand by 1.5
percent per year (every year)
• Applies to both gas and electric utilities
• Currently, conservation programs achieve
about 0.6 percent savings, so efforts will need
to more than double
• Currently over 90% of savings is in commercial
and industrial sector

8. Current residential EE efforts vs. state goals:
Electricity
1,600,000
1,400,000
1,200,000
Savings Goals
1,000,000
MWh
800,000
Savings
600,000
Shortfall
400,000
Current Efforts
200,000
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

9. Current residential EE efforts vs. state goals:
Gas
12,000,000
10,000,000
Savings Goals
8,000,000
MCF
6,000,000
Savings
Shortfall
4,000,000
Current Efforts
2,000,000
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

10. Characteristics of successful
approaches
• Address behavioral as well as technology
replacement issues
– Historically this is not been a generally accepted
approach – hard to measure
• Oriented towards actions that are simple and
achieve energy savings
• Provide efficient delivery of services
• Find new ways to reach customers