Electricity consumers’ response to recommendations: a field experiment with solar + storage customers in Lithuania

Last registered on April 29, 2026
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Electricity consumers’ response to recommendations: a field experiment with solar + storage customers in Lithuania
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0018492
Initial registration date
April 28, 2026

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 29, 2026, 4:24 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name
Ina Vaitiekutė
Affiliation
Vilnius University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Andrius Kažukauskas
PI Affiliation
Vilnius University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-04-01
End date
2026-10-01
Keywords
Behavior, Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
Electricity, consumer, solar, storage
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This field experiment evaluates how Lithuanian electricity consumers who have both solar panels and an electricity storage unit respond to different recommendations on how to utilize their energy systems more efficiently. Households are randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups (control, sustainability, social comparison, financial) encouraging them to store their produced electricity in their storage unit when there are the highest solar production peaks in the electricity grid. Smart meter consumption and production data are used to measure changes in 15-minute intervals. The study contributes to understanding how differently framed recommendations influence consumers' electricity production and consumption.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kažukauskas, Andrius and Ina Vaitiekutė. 2026. "Electricity consumers’ response to recommendations: a field experiment with solar + storage customers in Lithuania." AEA RCT Registry. April 29. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18492-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2026-05-06
Intervention End Date
2026-10-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
• Number of customers who have opened recommendations by pressing the link in sent emails
• Average electricity consumption and production during peak hours, measured in kWh at the household level using smart meter data
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
• Share of households reducing demand during critical peak periods
• Load shifting from peak to off-peak hours
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Participants will be divided into four groups:
• Control group - customers in this group will not receive any email and will serve as a baseline for comparison.
• Sustainability group - customers will receive email framed to encourage behavioral change by emphasizing that adjusting their energy consumption and production patterns contributes to a more sustainable energy system.
• Social comparison group - customers will receive an email with information about how efficiently they operate their energy systems compared with other similar customers.
• Financial group - customers will receive an email with information highlighting the potential financial savings that could be achieved by adjusting their behavior.

The results will be analyzed using the difference-in-differences method, where the outcome variable for customer i at time t is electricity consumption (kWh) or electricity production (kWh).
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
All customers are household consumers
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
~ 6 000 households
Sample size: planned number of observations
~ 6 000 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
~ 1 547 Control group
~ 1 547 Sustainability group
~ 1 547 Social comparison group
~ 1 547 Financial group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Committee on Research Ethics in Economics at Vilnius University
IRB Approval Date
2026-04-22
IRB Approval Number
No EC2026_04
Analysis Plan