Country review of energy-efficiency financial incentives in the residential sector

Panel: 2. Current energy efficiency policies: On stage and backstage

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Stéphane De la rue du Can, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
Amol Phadke, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
Nihar Shah, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA

Abstract

A Large variety of energy efficiency policy measures exist, some are mandatory, some are informative and other introduce financial incentives to promote the diffusion of more efficient equipments. Financial incentives varies considerably between countries in the type of framework used to implements them, in the actors that administrate them, in their scope and also in their forms. They range from rebates programs administrated by utilities under an integrated resource planning framework as in the State of California in the US to the distribution of eco-points rewarding customers buying highly efficient appliances as it is the case in Japan. All have for primary objective the transformation of the current market to accelerate the diffusion of more efficient technologies by addressing the first cost barrier faced by consumers as in most instances more efficient technologies have higher investment requirements. In this paper, we provide a review of the different market transformation measures involving the use of financial incentives implemented across the countries belonging to the MEF. After characterizing the main types of measures, the paper will inform on their mechanisms and will provides information on the impacts to the extent of evaluation ex-ante or ex-post have been conducted. Finally, the paper will identify best practices in financial incentive programs and opportunities for co-ordination between MEF countries as envisioned under the Super Efficient Appliance Deployment (SEAD).