Have the Energy Munchies? Curb your “Snackwell Effect”
Recent articles in USA Today and California’s Flex Your Power e-Newswire discussed the phenomenon known in energy efficiency circles as “take back” or the “Snackwell Effect” (see “Consumers Can Sabotage Energy-Saving Efforts,” and “The Snackwell Effect: Consumers Sabotage Energy-Saving Efforts“).
Stanley Jevons first described the take back effect in 1865, so this is nothing new. Jevons observed that new efficient steam engines decreased coal consumption, which led to a drop in coal prices. But the lower [...]
