Oracle Utilities
Marisa Uchin is Vice President for Regulatory Affairs and Market Development at Oracle Utilities.
In the early days of the push for greater energy efficiency among electricity customers, in the nineteen-seventies, eighties, and nineties, there was a never-ending policy debate. Opponents of energy efficiency contended that these programs would force Americans to endure less comfortable lifestyles, colder homes during winter, warmer homes during summer, and the like. Worse, the programs would force regular folk to curb their use of appliances, and that this would be an unacceptable inconvenience. Proponents rebutted that the programs would save energy without causing any discomforts or changes in behavior, what we now call structural energy efficiency.
As we can see in this interview with expert Marisa Uchin, formerly of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, energy efficiency strategies have evolved, and this historic debate has been relegated to a dustbin. Structural energy efficiency is still a valuable pursuit, but behavioral energy efficiency is now as well. Because many Americans may be more than willing to change their use of appliances especially if they are offered incentives to do so. Rather than explain this transformation in efficiency strategy, let's turn to the expert, Uchin, who can explain this far better.
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