World-wide non-mandatory involvement of electricity utilities in the promotion of energy efficiency and the Portuguese experience

The interest in the promotion of energy efficiency by utilities at the demand-side started in the seventies caused by the high prices of oil and suffered a drastic set back during the restructuring of the electricity sector. However, growing awareness on the positive effects of energy efficiency on the economy and on the environment, led many countries/jurisdictions to impose utilities’ engagement in the promotion of energy efficiency. In other countries/jurisdictions utilities encourage their customers to improve energy efficiency, on a non-mandatory basis. In this paper, the non-mandatory involvement of electric utilities in the promotion of energy efficiency at the demand-side is addressed. Some world-wide examples are given, detailing the Portuguese experience. Although this participation is important, it seems that countries/jurisdictions with regulatory impositions obtain more satisfying results.