Home Energy Reports and Beyond: Meeting the Moment with Behavior-Based Energy Efficiency

Many utilities motivate residential customers to reduce their energy use by regularly providing personalized feedback on their household energy consumption, often including how it compares to that of their peers and tips to lower their utility bills. This report examines the effectiveness of these HERs based on a review of existing research and identifies strategies for utilities, regulators, and program implementers to enhance HER programs to drive greater energy savings and meet additional priorities, such as decarbonization and affordability goals. This study did not collect new data, relying instead on previous reports and analyses from multiple large datasets and data sources to provide a broad overview of the current landscape of behavior programs, which were also used to inform our recommendations.

Our review finds that HERs are an effective tool for driving residential energy savings. Analyses from 2016 and 2022 (as well as our review of 13 additional evaluations between 2023 and 2025) found that HERs continued to change behavior at roughly the same rate as when they were first introduced (Sussman and Chikumbo 2016; Galport 2022). As utilities, regulators, and program implementers consider the next generation of HERs, the emphasis should be on both sustaining traditional HER programs and pilot testing innovative enhancements that can expand their impact.

Key recommendations for utility regulators

Encourage customer participation in complementary programs by revising evaluation criteria and requiring channeling to low-income programs. Incentivize HER implementers to channel customers to structural efficiency programs to drive higher overall efficiency savings, support electrification, and connect low-income customers to energy support services. Revise evaluation criteria for HER programs to better assign savings attribution (to both HERs and other programs) and avoid penalizing HER programs for increased electricity consumption from home electrification or low-income energy assistance programs. These changes can be piloted (alongside traditional evaluation) before full implementation.

Encourage balanced efficiency portfolios. To meet evolving utility priorities, regulators can encourage utilities to maintain balanced portfolios that combine behavior-based “quick win” programs with deeper energy upgrade initiatives. While HERs deliver immediate savings, long-term strategies are also essential. ^{1The optimal balance of long- and short-term programs required to achieve utilities’ varied priorities has not yet been established. We recommend a gradual and measured approach to shifting the balance of program types within a portfolio to allow observation of how savings impacts are affected and ensure that both long and short-term savings are maintained at desired levels. See all footnotes} High-performing utilities invest between 3% and 53% of their residential efficiency budgets in HER programs. Performance incentives for utilities should be appropriate (not too high, not too low) for running HER programs. More research is needed to determine the optimal mix of short- and long-term programs that would best suit utilities with varying priorities and budgets.

Allow programs to continue as long as they remain cost effective. HER programs thrive when reports are consistently delivered over multiple years. Savings increase over the first two years, as customers develop energy-saving habits and behaviors, and those savings continue as long as reports are still received. We do not recommend terminating programs that deliver consistent and reliable savings as long as the cumulative lifetime savings are cost effective, but we recognize that some utilities’ incentives and goals encourage short-duration programs.

Measure peak savings too. Encourage utilities to invest in behavior-based energy efficiency programs that reduce peak load by requiring the evaluation of peak savings alongside overall savings.

Pilot programs that use emerging behavior-based approaches. Regulators can encourage new behavior-based efficiency programs, both as standalone initiatives and as add-ons to HERs, by supporting pilot testing of HER 2.0-type programs and more innovative programs that go beyond HERs.

Potential HER 2.0 programs

Several new programs are currently offered by program implementers that save energy through similar behavior mechanisms to HERs. These might be considered “HER 2.0” options and are ready to be deployed at scale.

• Peak energy savings: Using behavioral science-informed messaging with customers during peak heat events to reduce energy consumption
• High-bill alerts: Sending customers notifications that their bill is likely to be higher than expected at the end of the month
• Rate coaches, weekly energy updates, and HERs focused on load shaping: Providing customers timely information on how to save money with special rates (e.g., electric vehicle (EV) rates and time-of-use rates) and coaching them to shift their energy use to specific times of the day when the grid is “cleanest”
• Virtual energy assessments and infrared home visualizations: Noninvasive virtual home energy assessments and/or overhead images of homes showing heat retention relative to other homes
• Disaggregated real-time feedback: Phone and web apps that provide real-time granular feedback on current home energy use by every device, appliance, and system

Recommendations for program implementers to augment traditional HERs

New research in psychology and behavioral science suggests that traditional HER programs could potentially increase their impact with some minor tweaks. Program implementers may want to consider pilot testing one or more of these if they are not already doing so:

• Describe health and environmental benefits in targeted messaging. Test messages with some audiences that highlight the health and environmental benefits of energy savings.
• Highlight rising trends with dynamic norm messaging. Incorporate dynamic norms (behaviors that are not yet conducted by most others but are on the rise) to encourage adoption of less common energy-saving actions, such as heat pump installation.
• Augment neighbor comparisons to increase their relevance. Compare peers who share both demographic and structural characteristics (similar people, not just similar buildings), which may increase the relevance and impact of HERs. ^{2Advanced analytics of customer data may be able to help create these comparisons, but data privacy regulations and customer perceptions are important to consider when using this strategy.See all footnotes}

Beyond HERs: new potential behavior-based energy efficiency ideas

Regulators and utilities that want to be on the forefront of behavior-based energy efficiency innovations could consider pilot testing strategies with demonstrated potential in peer-reviewed literature. These could include:

• School-based programs: Educating students on energy efficiency and encouraging them to save energy at home
• Online tools facilitating energy conservation goal setting and commitment: Providing a platform for customers to pick their goals and choose from a menu of energy efficiency actions to achieve them
• Gamification and “serious games”: Create and promote electronic games that teach energy efficiency and can be connected to actual home energy use

The role of HER programs and behavior-based efficiency

HERs have established themselves as a significant contributor to residential energy efficiency, delivering reliable savings at scale. The recommendations highlight the importance of sustaining traditional HER programs while evolving them into more sophisticated tools that leverage advanced data, behavioral science, and targeted messaging. Regulators play a critical role in enabling program longevity, portfolio balance, and innovation through flexible evaluation criteria and pilot support. Program implementers, meanwhile, are encouraged to experiment with HER 2.0 features that deepen customer engagement and align energy-saving behaviors with broader climate and equity goals.

By combining proven HER strategies with emerging approaches, utilities can maximize cost-effective savings, expand participation, and contribute meaningfully to decarbonization and energy equity. The path forward requires both continuity and innovation—maintaining the strengths of HERs while embracing new opportunities to enhance their impact in a rapidly evolving energy landscape.