Exposed: The UK Plan to Use Smart Meters to Deter “Immoral” Use of Heating
Research commissioned by the UK Government and published on its website last week has proposed to use smart meters to deter the “immoral” use of central heating.
The Telegraph has the story.
Owners of energy-efficient homes were targeted by the Government with ‘nanny state’ research exploring how they could be discouraged from turning up the heating, it can be revealed.
Officials in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) wanted to know how people could be dissuaded from consuming more energy after installing Net Zero upgrades such as insulation and double glazing.
London Economics, a think tank, was tasked in February 2024, under the Conservative government, with carrying out an in-depth review of academic studies on consumer behaviour and proposed using smart meters to “circumvent habits” and introducing “environmental taxes”.
Visual prompts and “nudges” were suggested as ways to “promote pro-environmental behaviours”, such as using colours on smart meters to indicate higher heating usage, as well as stickers on new boilers.
Researchers also focused on why households might use more energy after having improved their home’s energy efficiency.
The report cited studies that blamed “moral licensing” whereby “individuals justify ‘immoral’ behaviour (such as turning up their heating) by having previously engaged in moral behaviour (such as installing energy efficient measures)”.
It noted, however, that this phenomenon “has not been widely studied or observed in the context of energy efficiency” or so-called comfort taking.
The research was published on a Government website last week. A Government spokesman insisted there were no plans to implement the report’s suggestions, which were made before the last election. The Conservatives declined to comment.
The report centred on so-called “comfort taking”, a phenomenon where energy usage goes up after a home becomes more energy efficient, rather than falling as you might expect.
It can limit the environmental benefits of green technology – potentially throwing Britain’s race to Net Zero into doubt if households “comfort take” en masse.
Worth reading in full.