Given the increasing demands on Ontario's electricity grid as well as rising costs, energy conservation has become a critical element to Ontario's continued economic prosperity.

While Ontarians understand in a big picture sense the benefits of conservation, there is still much to be done in terms of real behaviour change. Both the provincial government and local utilities have invested heavily in driving the energy conservation message, but without truly understanding the perceptions toward conservation (how, when and why people conserve), the opportunity has been lost to bridge the gap between a theoretical understanding and actual behaviour change.

The success of any social marketing campaign when individuals are asked to change habits and behaviours is dependent on understanding what drives these behaviours as well as what obstacles and barriers exist to impacting real change. Truly understanding the obstacles and barriers leading to behaviour change always starts with research.

In terms of the type of information that the Energy Conservation Monitor will provide, the informational objectives include:

• Attitudes and behaviours toward energy conservation
• Gaps between attitudes and behaviours
• Barriers to change
• The level of awareness of methods to conserving energy
• Awareness of the benefits to conserving energy
• Educational gaps and drivers to conserving energy
• The level of importance to conserving energy
• Satisfaction levels with their current provider to a variety of performance measures
• Perceptions towards Smart Meters and alternate sources of energy
• Satisfaction with current communication efforts