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electricity along with some distributed generation such as rooftop
solar photovoltaics.
note that there are no one-directional arrows between the elements in Figure 2: communication occurs with, not to. in the rush
by marketers and policy makers to tell consumers what they need
to do, often with the best of intentions, there can be surprisingly
little effort to understand who they are, how they live, and how
they think. note, too, the "middle actors," who can be essential
in making technology work for the people who need the energy
service and for the system that provides it; markets are unable to
do this in the pure, frictionless way that is sometimes assumed.
examples of such actors include architects, designers, builders, vehicle fleet managers, heating engineers, energy advisers,
and local authority personnel, such as housing officers, building
inspectors, and planners. all of these are potential communicators with consumers but may not have the training, resources, or
inclination to make the most of that role.

What Is the Communication About?
Figure 2 also gives some idea of where lines of communication can run. this is important when thinking about potential
areas where communication is needed, such as the following:
✔ where improved design and investment are needed for
buildings, mobility, appliances, and infrastructure (climate-appropriate design, effective construction, retrofit, maintenance, and repair). colleges, universities, and
other sources of professional and trade development have
a role to play as well as the people who develop and apply
technical and operational standards.
✔ options for distributed generation and storage, where
network operators, vehicle fleet operators, energy service companies, and tariff designers all need to communicate with each other and with their customers.
✔ Person-to person communication, in the form of energy
labels and marketing materials, on-site advice programs,
audits, advertising campaigns, or online material.
✔ technology-to-person communications such as controls and feedback on energy use and generation.
✔ technology-to-technology communications including
rounded appraisal of the possibilities, risks, and uncertainties in highly connected systems.
all of these involve diverse variables and actors, and some
entail administrative, legislative, and political activity as standards are negotiated and arrangements made for implementation. But all involve communication about matters related to
everyday living and particular pieces of equipment, and, to be
effective, they need to take careful account of who communicates what to whom. For example, the early experience of smart
meter rollout in Great Britain (along with the research literature
on energy feedback and technology adoption) pointed to the
value of a combined approach in which 1) customers are offered
a smart meter designed to meet particular functional requirements including two-way customer-utility communication,
along with 2) an in-home display to communicate energy use to
customers, 3) installers are trained in communication skills, and
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4) suppliers are obliged to make provision for customer information and advice before, during, and after installation.

Conclusions
climate change, environmental degradation, and the provision of energy services are all complex processes that have
to be addressed with many resources-material, cognitive,
moral, social, and political. research on energy consumption
benefits from a greater involvement of the social sciences.
this article has highlighted that too much emphasis on either
a technological, structural, or cognitive fix will not be sufficient to achieve the fundamental shifts in energy consumption
needed to meet emission reduction targets.
the research literature on consumer energy demand confirms the extent to which energy systems are sociotechnical in
nature, so that purely technical fixes to reduce demand are rare
or nonexistent. communication with consumers needs to reflect
this, using technology as part of the message and involving
technicians in the process of designing technology. Drawing
on social science research about individuals' motivations, attitudes, and behaviors, technologies can be developed and implemented that "communicate well" with their end users. technicians can take an active part in implementing such technologies
by explaining and developing them with end users.

Acknowledgments
Sarah Darby gratefully acknowledges support from the
oxford martin Programme on integrating renewable energy
(http://www.renewableenergy.ox.ac.uk/).

For Further Reading
w. abrahamse, L. Steg, c. vlek, and t. rothengatter, "a review of intervention studies aimed at household energy conservation," J. Environ. Psychol., vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 273-291, 2005.
S. J. Darby and c. Liddell, "communicating 'smartness':
Smart meter installers in UK homes," in Proc. European
Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Summer Study
Workshop, hyères, June 1-5, 2015, pp. 1991-2001.
t. a. heberlein, Navigating Environmental Attitudes.
new York: oxford Univ. Press, 2012.
L. Lutzenhiser, "through the energy efficiency looking
glass," Energy Res. Social Sci., vol. 1, pp. 141-151, mar. 2014.
Y. Parag and K. B. Janda, "more than filler: middle actors and socio-technical change in the energy system from the
'middle out," Energy Res. Social Sci., vol. 3, pp. 102-112, Sept.
2014.

Biographies
Wokje Abrahamse is with victoria University of wellington, new Zealand.
Sarah Darby is with the University of oxford, oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
Katherine McComas is with cornell University, ithaca,
new York.
p&e

january/february 2018

http://www.renewableenergy.ox.ac.uk/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - January/February 2018