Impacts of an electricity audit on the total and on-peak consumption of residential households: Findings from a pilot study in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Against a backdrop of aging infrastructure, growing electricity demand, and local and global concerns over a changing climate, electricity conservation and management has become a top priority in Ontario, Canada. The present study investigated the potential of an electricity audit to reduce total electricity consumption and shift on-peak consumption among 17 residential consumers. Three months following the electricity audit, the sample achieved average total reductions of 9.4% and on-peak reductions of 17.2%. Three years after the audit, total consumption was reduced by 15.6% and on-peak consumption was reduced by 15.5%, on average. A variety of psychological variables and external influences were factored into the consumption analysis, including attitudes, knowledge, weather, control household data, technical upgrades, sociodemographic changes, and social dynamics, to explore their role in the observed consumption changes. Overall, we suggest that the electricity audit, at least indirectly, impacted the consumption behaviour of many households in the sample through increased awareness and understanding. Moreover, we found that exploring each variable in isolation led to an incomplete understanding of its potential impacts, and that applying these lenses or perspectives in sequence helped to contextualize the observed consumption changes in a more robust way. Future work is needed to disentangle the complex interplay of factors influencing electricity consumption, and to differentiate between individual and household-level contributions.