Energy- and non energy impacts of a Demand-side Management Program Case Study of the Program éco21, Geneva, Switzerland

eco21 is the demand-side management (DSM) program initiated in 2008 by the Services Industriels de Geneve (SIG), one of the largest multi-utility company in Switzerland. The first mission of eco21 is to stabilize the electricity consumption of Geneva. Since 2013, eco21 has a second mission related to greenhouse gases (GHG) reduction, with an objective of 825’000 tonnes equ. CO2 cumac by 2020. eco21 DSM program is composed of 7 action plans focusing either on electricity savings, or on GHG reduction, or on both. These action plans target several types of clients (e.g. households, municipalities, large and medium-sized enterprises). They combine “pull” and “push” interventions such as financial incitation, training, supports, direct install, market transformation and others. The results of electricity savings and GHG emission reductions, related to eco21, are to-date 80 GWh/y and 7’000 t-equ CO2, respectively. The average costs to utility per kWh saved are roughly 0.04 €/kWh and 18 €/t-equ CO2. SIG has evaluated at what level the program impacts the local economy, other than only reducing the electricity bills and GHG emissions. A global assessment shows a positive and significant impact on jobs creation, additional income generated for different businesses and tax revenues. A detailed assessment will be conducted by Geneva’s University by a PhD student who’s starting a research. This article aims at presenting eco21 DSM program, the quantitative energy savings, the financial mechanisms and the impacts on the local economy.