The inscrutable baseline and the problem of attribution

• Published in: Energy efficiency Vol. 17; no. 4; p. 27
• Main Author: Waite, Stephen P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.04.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Consumer behavior; Economics and Management; Energy; Energy conservation; Energy consumption; Energy Efficiency; Energy Policy; Environment; Environmental Economics; Experimental methods; Original Article; Quasi-experimental methods; Renewable and Green Energy; Research methodology; Sustainable Development; Causal inference; Program evaluation; Energy efficiency; Net savings; Experimental and non-experimental methods

This paper examines the problem of attribution in the evaluation of energy efficiency program impact. The methodological problem concerns the observability of consumer behavior under the baseline condition of no program intervention. The statistical solution to the problem, which entails randomized...