Competitive Utility-ing

I’ve been waiting to see this on my utility bills for a while. If we can tap into Americans competitive spirit, and get them to turn off their lights when they leave the room, or unplug the cell phone charger when it’s unused, we would save a lot of energy. If my bill told me I was wasteful compared to my neighbors, I would second guess my energy use. Fortunately, I live in a fairly new house, so my utilities are efficient. Plus, Seattle’s moderate climate doesn’t drive my bills up too much.

I know this would work brilliantly. 

The district had been trying for years to prod customers into using less energy with tactics like rebates for energy-saving appliances. But the traditional approaches were not meeting the energy reduction goals set by the nonprofit utility’s board.

So, in a move that has proved surprisingly effective, the district decided to tap into a time-honored American passion: keeping up with the neighbors.

Last April, it began sending out statements to 35,000 randomly selected customers, rating them on their energy use compared with that of neighbors in 100 homes of similar size that used the same heating fuel. The customers were also compared with the 20 neighbors who were especially efficient in saving energy.