Decisions and will power... and electricity

You all have a lot to do in one day.  Develop and plan budgets, make decisions about new business, evaluate how well a building or facility is operating, take feedback from colleagues and clients.  It's exhausting.  It turns out that all the decisions that you have to make in a day takes a measurable physical toll on your body, your brain, and your mental energy.  The more decisions an individual has to make, the lower his or her capacity for continuing to make good decisions.  Willpower doesn't just apply to those of us who are contemplating managing a diet or exercise regime, it also has to do with how we spend our days, and how we make decisions.  Depleted energy reserves can result in reduced willpower. 

John Tierney wrote an article in The New York Times Magazine that reported on a series of studies that all relate to the impact of fatigue on all of us.  The article is titled "Do You Suffer from Decision Fatigue?" -- and I thought it had a lot of relevance to the challenges that our clients face every day.   

Tierney writes:

The more choices you make throughout the day, the harder each one becomes for your brain, and eventually it looks for shortcuts, usually in either of two very different ways. One shortcut is to become reckless: to act impulsively instead of expending the energy to first think through the consequences. (Sure, tweet that photo! What could go wrong?) The other shortcut is the ultimate energy saver: do nothing. Instead of agonizing over decisions, avoid any choice. Ducking a decision often creates bigger problems in the long run, but for the moment, it eases the mental strain. You start to resist any change... from "Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?" By JOHN TIERNEY August 17, 2011 in The New York Times.

Energy, power and natural gas-related decisions are on your list of priorities, but they may not be at the top.  You have a lot of other work to do.  By the time you get a chance to look at energy-related decisions, you may opt to farm out the decision to people who spend more time on these issues, or you may just choose not to do anything.  In the power business, not deciding is a big decision, one that can have significant impacts on your costs and budget (see Market prices make a difference in this blog).  As Tierney explains...  

Once you’re mentally depleted, you become reluctant to make trade-offs, which involve a particularly advanced and taxing form of decision making.....  To compromise is a complex human ability and therefore one of the first to decline when willpower is depleted.

Our industry is particularly taxing in this regard.  The choices seem incredibly complex and overwhelming-- there is no perfect decision or strategy-- only ones that make the best use of current, available information and apply that information to the specific needs of an individual or business.

So what are Tierney's conclusions about how best to address decision fatigue?  Sugar... be sure to eat and restore the brain's capacities before tackling complex decisions.  Researchers find that restoring glucose levels shores up will power.  Eat, sleep, and don't try to fight the fact that we human beings don't always operate perfectly throughout the day.  This article resonated with us at The Megawatt Hour because we realize that we are essentially trying to reduce the mental energy required to make and manage complex purchasing decisions.  We want to know what else we need to do to help you do your job.

Written by Deirdre Lord 

Making things that people want

I was thrilled this week to see Greentech Media publish a story about NRG's CEO and his focus on consumer experiences and making great products (http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/clean-tech-needs-to-shift-focus-to-the-consumer/).  Energy and environment folks have talked about educating consumers for 30+ years.  People don't want to be educated, lectured, or admonished.  They want to save money, save time, feel good about their decisions and have great consumer experiences.  Who can say that about buying electricity?  Who can say that about any sort of energy experience?  It is time to get on with the business of building desirable products in the energy industry.  Our hypothesis is that process begins by giving people, consumers, the power to make good decisions and to see costs and value clearly.

Just out of curiosity, what is the best product you've purchased lately?  What product do you love?  I am a big fan of household soda makers.  I am almost chagrined to talk about a product experience.  But then as I sit here I realize that we are trying to build a great product.  So we should talk about products that we like and that make us feel good.  I have been a product evangelist for the household soda maker and have gotten 3 or 4 families to make the purchase simply by showing them how we use it and/or by talking about it.  I don't know if there is another product that I have felt this strongly about-- perhaps ever.  Why do I love it?  It is easy to use, reduces the waste stream, and seems to save us money.  A powerful combination.

I hope those of us in the energy and environment business can help to create products as powerful as this one.

There's nothing the matter with Kansas... or with changing the debate

There have been a number of articles in various publications that have resonated with me as we build a business that attempts to appeal to good common sense.  Until recently, it seemed we'd gotten bogged down, as thinkers, consumers, policy and business people in an intractable debate over climate change science and policy.  As Michael Shellenberger points out in his excellent post at Forbes.com dated Jan 11, 2011, the debate really boiled down to what sort of politics people tended to agree with, and was not so much a discussion of the climate science.  See (http://blogs.forbes.com/energysource/2011/01/11/why-climate-science-divides-us-but-energy-technology-unites-us/).  We have re-posted this on TheMWh.com home page as well. 

Certainly there is enough complexity in the climate science discussion to make meaningful agreement on the subject impossible in a time of political strain.  What was most frustrating to those of us who don't feel any need to debate climate science was the fact that there are ample reasons to address all of the challenges that climate change can bring that just make good sense from economic and national security points-of-view.  Why debate the climate science?  Who here is a climatologist?  Would it kill us to be pragmatic?   

There is more and more evidence that  many communities, corporations and individuals are reaching these same conclusions, as this October article about a town in Kansas suggests.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/science/earth/19fossil.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=energy%20independence%20Kansas%20town&st=cse

The article describes a competition among Kansas towns set up "to extricate energy issues from the charged arena of climate politics".  Brilliant idea since it attempts to change behavior and energy consumption by appealing to sensible objectives like reducing dependence on foreign oil, saving money and ensuring economic prosperity.  The competitive nature of the project engaged people in different communities-- schools, businesses, churches, households.  The towns got results.... "energy use in the towns declined as much as 5 percent relative to other areas — a giant step in the world of energy conservation, where a program that yields a 1.5 percent decline is considered successful" and will expand to 16 communities in 2011.

The link between information, competition, behavior change and reduced energy consumption could be a powerful one-- that drives more efficient markets and more engaged energy consumers. 

Why use TheMWh.com?

Because you don't trust anyone in the energy industry--not even yourself-- and you need an unbiased source of information. Try this

Because you have never been able to access your usage or cost.  So you've always wondered, if you can't see, feel or touch electricity, then how can you possibly control or understand your costs?  Now you can see your usage, past and future, right here.

Because you've been buying electricity for 15 years, and you still don't get it.  Now you can understand electricity at your own pace, with real information.

Because you've always been "flying blind" and have never understood what your electricity budget is or should be.  You don't need to "fly blind" anymore.

Because you want to be re-assured that you've made a good electricity deal.  The only way to know you've made a good deal is to test the prices you're getting against the market price.  You can do that here.

Because you always thought sustainability and green power were too expensive... and beyond the reach of your business.  That's not necessarily the case.  You can see what green power would cost you here.

Energy markets have not served customers well--- until now.  

But what about the big guys? Behavior and energy efficiency

In this field, there is quite a bit of buzz about "The Smart Grid" and clean technology.  Both terms are ill-defined.  No matter what the definition, there is no question that concern about climate change, energy prices, and even responses to the Gulf Oil Spill seem to have engendered greater concern about energy consumption and behavior.  One company that has gotten a lot of attention for its focus on behavior is a company called OPower.  (See Greentech Media August 26, 2010 "OPower Shifts Regions But Gets Similar Results in Energy Efficiency").  The progress that OPower has made is impressive.  They have gotten 1.5-3% efficiency improvements by providing information to residential households-- information that has created a competition among households.  OPower has taken advantage of that all-American drive to compete-- but in this case the competition is to reduce energy consumption (and save money).

According to the US Dept of Energy and the Energy Information Agency (EIA), residential households and commercial buildings consume a comparable amount of primary and delivered energy.  So who is focusing on creating motivations for commercial buildings to consume less electricity?  Why can't commercial clients compare their consumption and compete to be the most efficient commercial building owner?  Commercial buildings can't even view their usage or cost in anything close to real time.  The information barriers to improving efficiency in the buildings sector are far greater for large users (commercial buildings) than for smaller, dispersed residential users.  Does that make any sense?  Perhaps, perhaps not... tomorrow we move to a discussion of why anyone should care about building energy consumption in the commercial sector.