Effects of Feedback on Residential Electricity Demand: Findings from a Field Trial in Austria

This paper analyzes the effects of providing feedback on electricity consumption in a field trial involving more than 1,500 households in Linz, Austria. Results from cross section, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression suggest that feedback provided to the pilot group corresponds with electricity savings of approximately 4.5% for the average household. Results from quantile regressions imply that for households in the 30th to the 70th percentile of electricity consumption, feedback on electricity consumption is statistically significant and effects are highest in absolute terms and as a share of electricity consumption. Finally, controlling for a potential endogeneity bias induced by non-random participation in the feedback type groups, no difference was found in the effects of feedback provided via the web portal and by post.