Realized Savings from Residential Conservation Activity

A variety of public and private incentives are currently used to encourage the adoption of conservation measures and practices. One economic justification for these programs is that the marginal cost of conserving energy through these incentives is lower than the corresponding incremental cost of providing energy through conventional means. Naturally, the marginal cost of conserving energy is critically dependent on the actual, or realized, energy savings associated with the adoption of specific measures and practices. Our contention is that the standard approach to estimating these savings is inadequate.