Applying customer commitments to natural gas utility energy conservation

Previous energy conservation research highlights the importance of behavior, customer commitments, and energy efficiency programs. Much has been written on the impact of behavior energy efficiency savings documented through home energy report programs. This research expands upon utility efforts to offer behavior utility programs and documents the impact of utility customer commitment research through a formalized utility pilot program. In this pilot program in Utah, the ThermWise^® (ThermWise is the company related branding for Dominion Energy's energy efficiency programs in Utah.) Energy Pledge, natural gas utility residential customers agreed to a 2-year customer energy pledge pilot program (2019-2021). By enrolling in the pilot, customers set a goal for energy reduction. Customers received monthly text messages in the program with energy-saving tips, a monthly goal status email, cold winter text alerts, and annual emailed program reports. Initially, in 2019, over 2000 customers enrolled in the pilot program. Following the program, an evaluation revealed significant energy savings. Most compelling in those findings discovered that customers who agreed to allow their name to be published on a corporate website had over double the savings of other program participants. The pledge program confirms the impact of customer commitments on their energy use and offers promise for future utility programs encompassing commitments. Further research is warranted on identifying how further incorporate commitments into utility programs.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12053-023-10122-8.