Co-Designed Interventions Yield Significant Electricity Savings among Low-Income Households in Makhanda South Africa

Abstract

Human practices are at the centre of unsustainable electricity use at the household level, which means behaviour change strategies can form pathways towards electricity conservation. Although behaviour change interventions are useful in promoting electricity savings at the household level, they are rarely inclusive and informed by the users of electricity. Using a field-based experiment, this study examines the impact of co-designed interventions on household electricity consumption among low-income households in Makhanda, South Africa. The results show that co-designed interventions yielded significantly more electricity savings (5%) than prescriptive interventions (2%) over the intervention period. Participant households exposed to the co-designed interventions showed electricity savings of up to 14% post the intervention period, suggestive of positive persistent effects. Household size and employment status had a significant negative effect on electricity consumption while age, employment status, and baseline electricity consumption yielded positive effects. Electricity savings were positively correlated with involvement and trust, perceived behavioural control, and the intention to act pro-environmentally. The results highlight that co-designed interventions can yield significant electricity savings, which can in turn, result in grid stability, and reduced electricity expenditures and carbon emissions. A key contribution of this study lies in advancing our understanding of the effects of user-driven approaches in yielding persistent electricity-saving behaviour, which to date has not been a focus of intervention studies. In particular, the findings lend support to notions of supporting the agency of electricity users in co-developing solutions for local sustainability challenges.