Put this together with Jesse Berst's observation that consumer aggregation, based upon community and social relationships, to achieve leverage in the energy market and you have a back-2-the-future emergence of the community co-op model. Like minded people share the economic benefits of joint purchasing power while shaping the usage profiles through gaming experiences.
From the Washington Post: "...Shoring up that money and converting organizations to clean energy has become a point of focus for District-based Groundswell. The nonprofit has negotiated reduced prices on renewable energy for three cohorts of community and religious institutions in the past year.
The latest purchase, which closed last week, counted 103 groups from across Maryland and the District — more than twice the number that participated in the previous round. The Georgetown Presbyterian Church, Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy and the NAACP were among the groups that took part."...
The beginnings of the transformation!
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How businesses can use games to spur greener behavior
Published March 26, 2012
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When it comes to energy and the environment, most people want to do the right thing. But how many people actually contribute to improving energy use and environmental impact is another story.
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Two buzzwords, "gamification" and & "big data," were in frequent use at SXSW earlier this month. The two are closely related, and when combined, could have interesting implications for energy use..
By applying principals of gaming to non-game applications, it is believed you can encourage people to change their behavior. Mobile app developers have had great success doing this by incorporating location-based awareness data into their products.
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In his study, "Crafting Normative Messages to Protect the Environment," Dr. Robert Cialdini looked at homeowners and their rate of adoption of energy efficiency and renewable options like insulation, lighting retrofits and solar panels. Cialidini found that even when homeowners were presented with the finances that showed an attractive return on investment, they rarely implemented the measures. Instead, Cialdini argued, peer pressure drove these decisions.
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"Most people say they care about saving energy -- for either financial or environmental reasons," said Yoav Lurie, founder of Simple Energy. "But, like in weight loss, smoking secession, and personal finance, caring is often an insufficient motivator. We find that it's much more effective to get people to act as if they care."
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Why consumers are ganging up to buy electricity
By Jesse Berst
Published Margh 25, 2012
Consumers are increasingly setting up joint purchase agreements to get better prices from energy providers, the Washington Post reports. The latest alliance was a coalition called Groundswell made up of 103 religious and consumer groups including the NAACP and Georgetown Presbyterian Church. Groundswell will negotiate in their behalf for lower rates.
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