We are all aware of the ongoing debate on supply side and demand side energy management. I do not know why you are reading this article, but whatever it is; climate, costs, stewardship, interest or plain chance, welcome and I hope our thoughts will stimulate your thinking.

I begin with two facts. One: If we eliminated the energy being WASTED right now, the annual savings would be more than $6.67 billion dollars. Two: The only essential requirements to achieving these savings is education, motivation and action.

Obama announces $3.4B for 'smart' power grid - Associated Press Oct 27 2009
"Arcadia, Fla. – President Barack Obama made a pitch for renewable energy Tuesday, announcing $3.4 billion in government support for 100 projects aimed at modernizing the nation's power grid....... will be matched by $4.7 billion in private investments."

What really caught my eye was the 1.8 million allocated for the installation of smart meters. "To help home owners monitor their home energy consumption" it said.

Persuasion
There are three approaches to all persuasion:

a) Threat - If you do not do it you will lose: money, image, freedom, life
b) Reward - If you do it you will get; money, pleasure, success, heaven
c) Education - Information stimulates thinking, new motive and changed behavior

We live in a time where threat and reward style persuasion is an unavoidable part of daily living. Consider the following two examples: Viagra; the reward of sexual bliss? Identity Theft; the threat of losing everything? And as we as a society have hardened to this form of manipulative persuasion, so the threats and rewards have escalated.

The initiatives persuading us to save energy follow the above pattern. We are being told: save energy to eliminate global warming; save energy to reduce our carbon footprint; save energy and pocket "loads" of money. And although there is some truth to each of these claims, they are not persuasive. We like more cash, we may reflect on carbon footprint, but right now we live in a fear driven time of; terrorism, lost savings, health care and unemployment!

The only way we will be motivated to "do energy saving" is through education. This is a frightening concept for marketeers. It requires them to give up their fear and reward based control of us. And for as long as we respond to this control, we live in the very spiral dive we make.

Denial
It is generally understood in recovery circles that a person who continues to drink alcoholically will either die, be jailed, or placed in a mental institution. But despite the obvious harm of an alcoholics behavior, it is estimated that up to 15% of the US population remains in denial of the consequences to their continued alcohol abuse.

Littering is considered a socially undesirable (selfish) behavior today. It took costly awareness programs, the passing of litter laws, and the imposition of penalties to teach people to overcome their denial.

I think we can safely assume that we will encounter denial when it comes to evaluating our energy behavior. Who really wants to consider the real consequences of energy waste? Who wants to examine their own attitude? Particularly now, when we have so much on our minds? Take a look at this article by Laura Rose who writes Tired of Feeling Guilty" ".... on top of that, the pressure to reduce my carbon footprint with each action of the day is just too much for me lately.

Energy Waste
I do not wish to wrongly accuse anyone of any energy waste. Take a moment and reflect on your own energy use this last week. Try to be objectively honest, you are welcome to contact me and check you thoughts, for neither denial nor harsh self judgment are helpful.

Assuming you are like me, you will think of at least one "could do better" for you. I hope so! I know from personal experience that no-one will "see" the real issue underneath energy waste, until they recognize that they too are guilty.

Ask yourself why you did not save this energy?

I have heard so many examples, here are a few. e.g. I left the light on and wasted energy because I forgot/was distracted/do not care to turn it off. e.g. We are still using a regular light bulb and not energy saving CFL's because we have not had the time/money/motivation to replace it yet. e.g. I do not save energy because I pay for it and can use my money as I wish. e.g. I do not save energy because I have more important things to spend my time on. I do not know much about saving energy because I did not have the time/inclination/motivation to do the research/learning.

Whatever you come up with, assuming there is a "did not save energy" you will notice that there is always a reason/explanation/rationalization for it. This "reason" is what we need to examine more closely.

The energy we used required some amount of natural resource for its production. This natural resource can never be replaced. The energy we used added to the worlds carbon emissions. I do not think we fully understand the implications of this yet. The energy we used cost money. This money could have been used in a different way.

Only you can answer the these questions.

1) Was the use of this energy useful?
2) Was the real cost of this energy justifiable?

I have done this test many times for our home energy use. In most cases; our appliances, lighting, heating, home office the answer is Yes, useful, and Yes, I think so. I believe we have energy for a reason and using it wisely is a part of our human progress. (See Note 3)

But for each waste of energy, the answer is No, a waste, and No, it was selfish.

The real cause of energy waste is selfishness. Someone else, probably a future generation, is going to "pay" for the resource I wasted today. No wonder my conscience is unhappy.

In the section below I discuss a few simple suggestions to assist you with energy awareness. I am convinced though that you will not make a long term change to how you save energy until you decide to examine the real underlying issue of selfishness. There are explanations for why we have such little regard for the interests of others, and the resources we have been given, but they are for other forums. I encourage you not to limit your reflection on selfishness to energy, it is but one symptom of the condition.

If you have been convinced that you need to change your attitude to energy saving, I have found it helps to have the following three tracks working together. One: To recognize that selfishness is a moral issue that change requires a spiritual solution. Two: To engage in a program which includes education and accountability. Three: To be part of a community of people which will encourage and support you.

Awareness
The Internet and the discussion on this site is a great place to start. It is free and the ideas described will allow you to start saving energy right away, without any significant expense.

Monitoring your energy will increase your awareness and be a reminder to help you save energy. "Studies show that being able to see your electricity usage in near real time, throughout the day, makes it easier to reduce it and save money" by Google PowerMeter

Monitoring energy can teach you where to save energy. Google PowerMeter Showed Me How and Why I Was Wrong" - I strongly recommend this excellent case study by Five Percent

This correctly motivated increase in energy awareness is essential, but saving energy is only achieved when you do something different. It may be to go without, e.g. a shorter shower. It may be to do it differently, e.g. replace bulb with a CFL. It may be automatically enabled, e.g. a smart strip. It may be human intelligence enabled, e.g. unplug the offending item. It may be a replacement device, e.g. a new laptop. But whatever it is, there needs to be a real "it"

I encourage all of you who have read this far to do something that saves energy in your home, as soon as you can.

Conclusion
It is way past time that we put an end to this "game" of others. We have put ourselves at the mercy of every fear man can devise. Our consciences may be dulled, but they are not dead. It is time to rethink what matters. The words "it is better to give than to receive" will prove deeply satisfying again. Energy saving will take its rightful place, motivated from within.

My wife and I save a little energy each day. We live in a small apartment which means that our opportunities are limited. We have reduced our bill from $50.00 per month at its peak to under $30.00 per month. We really enjoy spending the $20.00 each month.

We do so with a sense of humor at the subtleties of our human condition, and our ability to rationalize almost any selfish behavior. It does take an effort to "always" remember to turn out "every" light, and there have been few days where we did not slip in some way. It takes considerable effort to learn about new ways to be more energy efficient; lighting, heat, washing up, laundry, cooking, home office, etc. Each time I catch myself "not bothering" I remind myself that energy saving is a spiritual discipline. One that helps me grow my selflessness.

My wife and I are not obsessive over energy. We try to not feel guilty about our "slips" or to take pride in our success. We do invest money in our program, we have decided to invest in a TED with a friend for $256.36. We enjoy the savings we make but they are very much the result of our program, and not the reason for our program. We try to be good stewards of all our resources, including "green resources" because it is right to do this.

Energy saving has become one of my daily reminders to be less selfish. Some people tie knots in things, some have alarms that chime, some regular routines, I have energy - and it is always there. I accept I will never be perfect, I trust I am forgiven for sin, and I try and give all credit for my progress to God and His grace and patience with me.

Note 1: In 2007 there were 111,162,000 households in the United States. If each household saved 10% (a conservative estimate) the annual savings would amount to $6,669 billion dollars.

Note 2: In California we are seeing some early change motivated by the tiered energy price model of PG&E. The level 5 rate is $0.44098 Kwh. It is applied to all energy consumed above 300% of the BaseLine 8.3 Kwh per day. Each 100 Watt bulb, used 40 hours per week, costs $63.50 more than a CFL per year.

Note 3: As we succeed in changing how we create energy, from "finite natural resources (oil, gas, coal) to "renewable sources" (wind, wave, solar) the nature of our moral argument will change. As natural resources become more scarce the cost of waste will go up. As renewable resources emerge the cost of waste will decrease. But whatever the "cost" of waste is decided as, the root cause will remain selfishness. The cost of selfishness is eternal and beyond calculation.