What are the incentives for energy companies promoting energy efficiency?

Question

My hydro (electricity) bills always contain helpful hints on conserving energy: do laundry runs in the wee hours, favor LED over incandescent bulbs, etc.

I'm sure many at the big-energy corporate offices actually care about the environment, sustainability, and generally being eco-friendly. But I'm wondering if there are specific reasons that compel them to do so, outside of being responsible Earthlings.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they provide public service announcements like this. But I'm trying to understand why they would go against the corporate instinct to maximize profits.

1. Are there laws that force energy companies to highlight energy saving tips?
2. Does this provide a measurable marketing edge (show the public that We Care)?

Answer 1

One argument in favor is load balancing:

If you can manage to shave off request peaks, your systems can be smaller and/or have to scale up and down slower and less frequently. That all pays itself back in building and maintaining your infrastructure.

• It does not matter if the customer changes hours, he is paying for the electricity anyway.^*
• If the consumer actually uses less, my guess that is offset by the benefit mentioned above.

You can interpret 'load' several ways:

• For companies actually producing electricity it means having to build less (peak) capacity.
• For resellers it means having to pay less to the actual producers, because prices are more and more determined by instantaneous demand.

^{* This is offset somewhat if the user also is billed less in low-demand hours}

Answer 2

They're mandated and/or sponsored by government. The companies are slightly motivated to use this money well to appear as friendly, neighbourhood, we-have-your-interests-at-heart companies, i.e. generate customer goodwill, since someone else is funding it. E.g. Imporoving Energy Performance in Canada. And this works because it reduces energy costs per economy/gdp. The last watt generated is the most expensive, so it's win-win for everyone.

I will admit it sounds a little wasteful, but a lot of change happens only because of this sort of thing. E.g. the greatest indicator of a household installing solar panels is actually other households nearby with solar. (Vox.com: Solar power is contagious) People bought more LEDs when they saw/heard other people with LEDs, so stores sold more LED lighting, etc. We're not the most rational of consumers...