Sydney Utilities Electricity Efficiency Project

Transcription

1 Business Energy Smart Tips (BEST) for Ethno specific SMEs Final Evaluation Report Sydney and Melbourne Dr Lynne McLoughlin for the Ethnic Communities' Council of NSW April 2015

2 Acknowledgements This activity was funded by the Ethnic Communities Council of NSW as part of the Business Energy Smart Tips (BEST) project. BEST received funding from the Department of Industry and Science. Statistical analysis was undertaken by Dr Ian Reeve, University of New England. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.

3 CONTENTS Contents 1. Overview Introduction Background Methods Survey sample Sydney Survey Results Introduction Awareness, knowledge and understanding of electricity use Use of electricity in the business Electricity billing Incentive programs and what other businesses are doing Understanding the assessment report Making changes to reduce electricity consumption Negotiating with electricity company Buying new equipment and using incentives Making changes in the business prior to the project Making changes during the project intent Making recommended changes during the project completed Other actions Savings in bills Barriers to taking action Overall influence on change Receiving and using information on electricity in their business Pre project stage Information needs mid project stage View of information post project Survey sample and results Melbourne Introduction and sample Awareness, knowledge and understanding of electricity use Use of electricity in the business Electricity billing Incentive programs and what other businesses are doing Understanding the assessment report Making changes to reduce electricity consumption Negotiating with electricity company Buying new equipment and using incentives Making changes in the business prior to the project Making changes during the project intent Making recommended changes during the project completed Other actions Savings in bills Barriers to taking action Overall influence on change Receiving and using information on electricity in their business Pre project stage Information needs mid project stage View of information post project APPENDIX 1: Collated significant differences by language group, Sydney APPENDIX 2: Report tips and recommendations categories... 59

4 CONTENTS APPENDIX 3: Statistical methodology APPENDIX 4: Change Tables Sydney data APPENDIX 5: Questionnaires APPENDIX 6: Sydney Sub groups cross tabulations... Separate document List of figures Sydney Figure 1 Businesses assessed and surveyed... 7 Figure 2 Number of each type of business in the survey sample... 8 Figure 3 Owner/managers time in the type of business... 8 Figure 4 Time in business according to sector... 9 Figure 5 Respondent language backgrounds: assessed businesses compared to survey sample... 9 Figure 6 Surveys as proportion of completed assessments by language group Figure 7 Survey sample charted by language, sector, employees and management type Figure 8 Area considered to use the most electricity in the business Figure 9 Actions named by businesses that would reduce their electricity use Figure 10 Ease of understanding electricity bill pre and post project Figure 11 Changes in understanding of electricity bill, grouped by language Figure 12 Knowledge of the way electricity is charged for their business Figure 13 Change in knowledge of method of charging for electricity Figure 14 Other business they know doing things to save electricity Figure 15 Ease of understanding their assessment report Figure 16 Actions previously taken in dealing with electricity company Figure 17 Reason for not taking action with electricity provider Figure 18 Business who felt confident negotiating with electricity company post project Figure 19 Financial considerations in choosing new electrical equipment Figure 20 Extent of changes already made to reduce electricity use Figure 21 Interest in implementing report recommendations mid project Figure 22 Proportion of actions businesses intended to complete Figure 23 Top no cost recommended actions businesses intended to do Figure 24 Low cost options businesses intended to do Figure 25 Higher cost options businesses intended to do Figure 26 Any actions completed compared with intent Figure 27 Proportion of their recommended actions completed by businesses Figure 28 Comparison of intended and actual no cost changes Figure 29 Comparison of intended and actual low cost changes Figure 30 Comparison of intended and actual higher cost changes Figure 31 No cost actions completed Figure 32 Low cost actions completed Figure 33 Number of actions completed by cost level Figure 34 Electricity bill savings identified by the end of the project Figure 35 Barriers to implementing changes at pre project, mid project and post project stages Figure 36 Overall most important reason for making changes in last 3 6 months to reduce electricity use Figure 37 Sources of information on energy efficiency Figure 38 Helpfulness of information received Figure 39 How information helped business with their electricity use Figure 40 Ways businesses prefer to receive information Figure 40 Information language preference, by language Figure 41 Preferred method of receiving more information Figure 42 Importance of information received in project to achieving changes Figure 43 Any other factor important in making changes Melbourne Figure 44 Businesses assessed and surveyed Figure 45 Number of each type of business in the survey sample... 40

5 CONTENTS Figure 46 Proportion of businesses by number of employees Figure 47 Time in business Figure 48 Respondent language backgrounds: survey sample compared to assessed businesses Figure 49 Surveys as proportion of completed assessments by language group Figure 50 Area considered to use the most electricity in the business Figure 51 Actions named by businesses that would reduce their electricity use Figure 52 Ease of understanding electricity bill pre and post project Figure 53 Knowledge of the way electricity is charged for their business Figure 54 Business who felt confident negotiating with electricity company post project Figure 55 Financial considerations in choosing new electrical equipment Figure 56 Extent of changes already made to reduce electricity use Figure 57 Interest in implementing report recommendations mid project Figure 58 Top no cost recommended actions businesses intended to do Figure 59 Any actions completed compared with intent Figure 60 Proportion of their recommended actions completed by businesses Figure 61 No cost actions completed Figure 62 Electricity bill savings identified by the end of the project Figure 63 Barriers to implementing changes at mid project and post project stages Figure 64 Ways businesses prefer to receive information... 52

6 CONTENTS

7 OVERVIEW 1. Overview Introduction This project was aimed at ethno specific small and medium sized businesses in Sydney with the objective of providing access to information on how to assess and reduce their energy use. It has been delivered through on site visits and assessments by trained educators in a culturally and linguistically appropriate format. Through this project, assessments were completed for 627 businesses in Sydney and 211 businesses in Melbourne across a range of business sectors. Of these businesses, over three quarters (76%) or 477 businesses in Sydney, and 84 businesses (39%) in Melbourne completed surveys at three points in the project: prior to assessment, when the assessment report was delivered and at a follow up some months later 1. These fully surveyed businesses comprise the evaluation sample for this report. The language and business sector composition of the assessed businesses is uneven with a preponderance of restaurants and grocery stores (both cities), and the Vietnamese and HIndi/South Asian language backgrounds in Sydney and Dari/Hazaragi and Mandarin in Melbourne. Despite these differences, in Sydney the survey sample does substantially reflect the business sector and language composition of the full group of assessed businesses. In Melbourne the sample is reasonably representative of sectors but less representative of the language groups with assessments. The samples are generally well distributed across the full range of owners/managers and experience, or time in the business, although those in business 5 9 years are under represented in Melbourne. In both cities the samples are skewed to lower levels of turnover and smaller numbers of employees, as would be expected for a project targeting SMEs. The survey results have been grouped into the three areas of knowledge/understanding, behaviour/making changes, and information provision. They amply demonstrate the effectiveness of the on site language specific face face approach employed by the project in achieving changes in ethnic run businesses in their awareness of electricity use and costs, knowledge of what to do about it, as well as actual changes to reduce use. The research in Sydney has resulted in a substantial sample that can be statistically analysed for subgroup differences and these are presented along with total frequencies for each question. The Melbourne sample is too small overall for sub group statistical analysis and frequencies only are presented. In some questions the number of people answering is substantially smaller again, due to either the nature of the question or simply missing responses. Given the sample sizes, the results for Melbourne should be treated with some caution. However, on many questions the results align with those for Sydney, providing some verification for the Melbourne results. In this statistical analysis for Sydney there were found to be very few significant differences by sector. The major and most frequent differences were by language group. There were also frequent differences by owners/managers and by business size as represented by number of employees or turnover. These three characteristics, language, management and business size may also be interrelated, with particular language groups clustering in, for example, small owner operated local businesses. Knowledge/understanding Business owners and managers in Sydney and Melbourne clearly know their own business and the area of greatest electricity use. Few do not have an opinion about this, and both anecdotal information from 1 Five of the Melbourne businesses had pre and post projects only. 1

8 OVERVIEW the educators and the specific assessment questions indicates the businesses were generally correct in this assessment of their business electricity use. However beyond this, levels of knowledge or understanding at the pre project stage was quite low of issues that may be key to managing their electricity use and reducing their use and their bills. The project was then very successful in providing information that addressed these gaps and resulted in measurable changes by the post project survey. Pre project, over half (55% Melbourne, 63% Sydney) were not aware of any ways they could reduce their electricity use in their business. Most businesses did not know of any tax incentives or government programs to help them reduce their electricity use (89% Melbourne, 94% Sydney), nor of any other businesses who had taken such actions on their electricity (90% and 80%). More than a quarter (26% both cities) said they found it difficult to understand their electricity bill and a further 15 16% were not looking at their bill. Around half (47 51%) did not know if they were on flat rate or time of day metering. Results of the pre project survey thus indicated there was an opportunity to build the capacity of ethnospecific SMEs to understand such electricity issues, as an important step towards their being able to manage and reduce their use, and post project there was substantial change on a number of these measures. In particular, post project few businesses now had difficulty understanding their bill. In Sydney 94% said it was easy or OK, Melbourne 89%, and those who don't look at their bill declined to 6% Melbourne and 3% Sydney. Businesses' knowledge of the their charging method for electricity also improved substantially with those who said they didn't know falling to 27% for both cities. Data is incomplete but there are strong indications that over 90% of those who said they knew were correct. In Sydney, Arabic (66%) and Vietnamese (69%) were the most likely to not know about their billing method pre project. Post project Arabic businesses had changed most and only 17% said they didn't know but they had higher rates of being incorrect where their bills could be checked, than other language groups). Vietnamese businesses had changed least and 60% still said they did not know. Behaviour/making changes In matters relating to electricity supply there were greater pre project differences between Melbourne and Sydney. In terms of proactively managing electricity bills with their provider, 39% in Sydney and 65% in Melbourne said they had not taken any action. Lack of knowledge (of what to do or that anything could be done) was an influencing factor for over a third of these businesses in Sydney and a quarter in Melbourne. But in Sydney 45% said they had thought about it but not done anything, while in Melbourne there was a range of other reasons including a quarter who hadn't wanted or needed to do anything. Post project, however, businesses in both cities were very similar, with 61 and 64% who felt definitely able to negotiate with their electricity company and a further 34 35% who felt they may be able to do this. Very few said they could not at all. Throughout the research, up front cost emerged as the major influencing factor in businesses ability or willingness to make changes. It was the key reason that businesses had not made changes that they already knew would save electricity. Lack of time or staff resources was also a factor that rose in significance through the project in both cities, indicating a basic willingness across businesses to take action if they could. Not being sure of what to do or of the benefits were also important barrier to action pre project or mid project in Sydney which fell dramatically with the process of discussion with, 2

9 OVERVIEW and reporting by the assessors. In Melbourne concerns about the changes making them uncompetitive rose through the project. However, in buying a new appliance or piece of equipment businesses were a little more likely to consider running costs than up front costs in Sydney (45% Sydney vs 37% Melbourne), but even more likely to see running costs as important in Melbourne (59% Melbourne vs 13% Sydney). Thus assistance with cost could make a difference to the uptake of energy efficient changes. While most businesses did not know of government programs or tax incentives, of the small group who did, most had taken advantage of such programs. At the mid project stage, businesses were given their assessment reports and any key issues were explained. The reports included recommended actions that were no cost, low cost and higher cost. In Sydney 80% and in Melbourne 64% said they were very or somewhat interested in implementing the recommendations in the report. However when asked to nominate which of the actions they thought they would do, their intent, represented by the proportion of their recommendations they would implement at each cost level, fell dramatically with cost. Lighting actions were the most commonly chosen at all cost levels but refrigeration actions were also common at no and low cost levels and in Melbourne office/shop equipment actions were popular at the no cost level. Post project, the assessors reviewed businesses' completed actions and here the dramatic fall with cost was even more evident in both cities than at mid project expression of intent. The type of actions completed reflected the intended areas nominated at mid project stage, although office/shop equipment figured more strongly at no and low cost levels in Sydney than had been expressed by intent. In Sydney, Mandarin and Cantonese and Hindi/Tamil businesses were more likely to have completed most or all no cost actions, Hindi/Tamil to have completed most or all low cost actions, Mandarin and Cantonese some. Mandarin businesses were more likely to have completed some or all higher cost actions. Thai and Vietnamese businesses were more likely to have completed none of the no cost actions and no low cost actions. No Vietnamese business completed any higher cost actions. Arabic businesses were more likely to have completed some no cost and some low cost actions but almost no higher cost actions (98%). In terms of actions related to intent, in Sydney Mandarin, Cantonese and Hindi/Tamil businesses did as much or more than they said they would, Arabic and Thai did substantially as much as they said they would, but Vietnamese did less. In Sydney, in all actions across all cost levels, the surveyed businesses made a total of 1575 changes that reduce their electricity consumption, or an average of 3.3 actions per business. Of these total actions, 71% were at the no cost level, 26% at low cost level and 3% at higher cost level. In Melbourne, in all actions across all cost levels, the surveyed businesses made a total of 140 changes that reduce their electricity consumption, or an average of 1.7 actions per business. By cost level, 86% of these actions taken were at the no cost level. Information provision Almost two thirds of the businesses in both Sydney and Melbourne did not recall having received any information on saving electricity previously. Of those who did, two thirds found it helped them at least a little, particularly in making them aware of their electricity costs. In Sydney the information they most remember receiving came from sources that are largely personal (face to face) engagement visits by local council officers or a Council workshop, an energy audit program, friends family or neighbours. In Melbourne energy companies played a more common role. All businesses who had made changes through the project in Melbourne and 92% of those in Sydney said that the information they received during the project process was somewhat or very important in 3

10 OVERVIEW helping make those changes. Most said they hadn't needed anything further, although a few mentioned support from their local Council. In terms of receiving information in the future, at pre project stage 65% Sydney and 55% Melbourne nominated written information and 40% Sydney and 23% Melbourne nominated face face at their business. In Melbourne was nominated by over a quarter but was not common in Sydney. Responses to these two questions on recalling information and future information provision highlight an essential contradiction. They show the difference between effective communication that businesses actually recall (various face face sources), and their expressed preference for forms of communication they feel can more easily fit into their time poor work day. At least half the businesses prefer communications their own language this would be more likely to be read/absorbed and understood. Whatever their English language capacities, reaching people in their own language should meet the communication needs of most of these businesses. Conclusions The evaluation results for this project provide evidence that there are significant knowledge gaps regarding electricity use among ethno specific SMEs. The evidence also shows that this program addressing knowledge through an onsite expert assessment process to provide business specific information in their own language, supported by a written report and other information they can examine when they are less busy, has been effective in achieving substantial changes in knowledge as well as actual change in businesses' practices and use of electricity. However, the results also provide very strong evidence of the overwhelming importance of cost as a barrier to change for small businesses, and to a lesser, but still important, extent time or staff resources to actually undertake the changes. This indicates that further support to assist with aspects that impinge on their time (for example sourcing suppliers of suitable fittings/equipment), or with infrastructure costs may be required for businesses to implement some of the recommended changes. The detailed sub group analysis of the results for Sydney also demonstrates there are significant differences between language groups in their needs and responses to programs, and these differences are often masked by whole sample results in studies that cover a range of language groups. 4

11 INTRODUCTION 2. Introduction 2.1 Background The Business Energy Smart Tips (BEST) project was originally designed to give 1200 ethno specific small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in Sydney and Melbourne access to information about how to assess and reduce their energy use. The information was to be presented in a culturally and linguistically appropriate format with delivery tailored to reach each business owner or operator in their own time and in their own language from a trusted source, an energy educator from the NSW Ethnic Communities' Council (ECC) or the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria (ECCV). The project aims were to: provide information that increases the energy literacy of the participating businesses increase the ethno specific businesses uptake of energy efficiency activities provide information and advice that leads over the long term to businesses reducing their energy use and costs, by influencing business practices and decision making about energy efficiency behaviours and equipment through the provision of one to one guidance and targeted information increase the energy efficiency information available to the wider ethnic business community. The project was funded from the Department of Industry as part of the Energy Efficiency Information Grants Program. The funding included an approved project evaluation plan which set out the program logic for the project, its outcomes, the evaluation methods to assess achievement of outcomes, and the reporting stages. A major component of the evaluation was a pre and post survey process with participating businesses in both Sydney and Melbourne. This is the full final report of the survey results across this project. In Sydney, 627 businesses had full assessments of whom 510 completed pre project surveys. 12 businesses could not be re contacted at the time of the mid project survey and a further 21 businesses had changed hands or could not be re contacted for the final survey, resulting in a sample of 477 businesses that completed all three surveys to inform this project evaluation. In Melbourne, 211 businesses had full assessments, of whom 198 completed at least one of the three project surveys. Of these, only 77 completed all three surveys and a further 5 completed the pre and post project surveys, resulting in a sample of 84 businesses for this evaluation. 2.2 Methods The evaluation plan included the use of a pre and post survey instruments to provide baseline and project impact information. As the project developed, it was decided to include a further survey point at the time the assessment report was delivered to businesses by the bilingual educators. Thus there are three surveys for each business. The first is longer because it is gathering the baseline information about the business and its energy use. The second two are shorter, to assess the program s impact. Structure: All three surveys are paper based surveys, with questions asked and recorded by the educator as the interviewer. All consist of some questions that are open as asked but which had precoded answers and an Other option. Other questions are closed with the answer options read out (where short) or, if longer or more complex, responses were shown on a card for the respondent to choose their answer. The educators conducting the surveys carried cards with response options in their 5

12 INTRODUCTION target language for the project, but also in English to use where this was more easily understood by the business. All three surveys also included some questions for the educator interviewer to complete after the survey, particularly in regard to the recommended actions the business intended to complete (midproject) and did complete (post project) knowledge, their assessment of the accuracy of the business' knowledge of energy use and bill charging in their business (pre and post project surveys). Timing: The surveys were administered at the points shown in the following table. Questionnaire When administered Time 1. Pre project questionnaire 2. Mid project questionnaire 3. Final project questionnaire At first meeting with business after they have agreed to be part of the program but before discussing energy use in their business or undertaking assessment On delivery of assessment report, after businesses have read it and/or it has been explained to them At the time of the 3 6 month follow up call, after they have received at least one quarterly bill or three monthly bills following their assessment The three project questionnaires are attached at Appendix 1. Sampling: Sampling for this survey most closely approaches convenience sampling in terms of the whole population of ethnic businesses in Sydney, in that businesses were approached to participate where the educator/interviewers could find those that fitted the project profile. However, the project design included an aim to survey all businesses participating in the program, recognising that in a project of this type, surveys will not be able to be completed for all businesses but by retaining this aim, a substantial sample can be achieved. The range of barriers or issues affecting baseline surveys included: pilot and early questionnaire versions not able to be used due to differences in data collected 20 mins 10 mins 10 mins reported business resistance to completing the surveys (due, for example, to pressure of time, customers waiting) early educator interviewer lack of confidence with the survey process and reluctance to press businesses to complete the surveys when they demonstrate initial reluctance. There are also substantial challenges in obtaining reliable data in surveys of this nature, involving interviewers new to this activity, respondents who speak a range of languages that require translation of the questionnaire, and conduct of the survey in often pressured circumstances. In Sydney educatorinterviewer training and feedback was important in ameliorating these issues and overall a high ratio of surveys completed to assessments was achieved (see section 1.3). Data entry and initial analysis: All responses, apart from 'other' responses, were pre coded and the data was manually entered into a spreadsheet by a single person at ECC (Sydney data) and another at ECCV (Melbourne data). Data was then checked, inconsistencies reviewed and corrected and frequencies calculated. Statistical analysis was applied only to the Sydney data as the sample for Melbourne was too small for such analysis. This analysis first developed cross tabulations for all questions on all demographics, then applied tests of significance to those sub group results, including multiple response questions. Change analysis was conducted to examine change on questions common to pre project and post project surveys, particularly on respondent knowledge and awareness, and on questions in the mid project and post project surveys for intent to act and completed actions. A full description of the statistical methodology is in Appendix 3. 6

13 INTRODUCTION 2.3 Survey sample Sydney [Note that charts in this report based on percentage of respondents for single response questions may have totals that do not exactly equal 100, due to rounding of the component figures.] The total sample for this report, including the first wave of assessments and surveys previously reported, is 477 businesses completing all three surveys, of 627 businesses with completed assessments. The survey sample thus represents over three quarters (76%) of the full project group. Statistical comparison of the 21 businesses who did not complete (at least some of whom had changed or left the business), and have thus been excluded from the analysis shows that the at the beginning of the project, these businesses had significantly higher proportions who thought their electricity bill was very easy to understand, and who had not made any changes to reduce electricity use that they were aware they could make. At the mid project point they more likely to say they were not interested in implementing any of their assessments' no cost recommendations. It thus seems that these businesses were not particularly interested in making changes. This suggests the final sample may be more representative of the desired project target group those who needed help to understand their bills and who were interesting in taking action to reduce their electricity use. Businesses sampled The businesses participating in this project in this project are heavily weighted to convenience/small grocery stores (38% of assessments, 35% of surveys) and restaurants (33% of assessments, 32% of surveys). Clubs (2%/1%), general retail (5%/4%) and butchers (7%/6%) are particularly poorly represented (Figure 1). The general retail category was added late in the project so that smaller numbers would be expected. Figure 1 Businesses assessed and surveyed n=627/477 Grocery Restaurant Takeaway 9 10 Bakery Butcher Assessments Survey sample General retail 5 4 Community/club % of respondents This survey sample composition closely reflects the sectoral composition of the total assessments conducted, although convenience/small grocery stores are a little over represented in the survey sample compared to their proportion of total assessments (Figure 1). On the other hand the proportion of surveys to assessments within each sector varies greatly from 36% for clubs/community organisations up to 93% for takeaways (Figure 2). 7

14 INTRODUCTION Figure 2 Number of each type of business in the survey sample n= No. of businesses No survey Survey sample As would be expected in a project targeting small businesses, a substantial majority of businesses in the sample (88%) have less than six employees. Only 9 have more than 10 employees. Over half (60%) preferred not to answer the question on turnover. Where reported, turnover is also concentrated at the lower end of the scale with 36% of the total sample (or 89% of those prepared to answer) in the two brackets up to $499,000. Survey Respondents Those completing the surveys were either the owner or manager of the business and the sample has a strong preponderance of owners (69%), compared to managers (30%). The time they have been in the type of business is spread across the periods canvassed, from under two years to more than 10 years (Figure 3) but owners clearly dominate in the longer time periods. Figure 3 Owner/managers time in the type of business n= No of businesses Manager Owner 0 Less than 2 years 2 4 years 5 9 years 10 years or more Time in business Experience in the business varies with the type of business. Over 70% of those running takeaways have less than 5 years experience, while a greater proportion of the more specialised businesses, butchers and bakers, have more than 5 years experience. For grocery stores, restaurants and general retail stores, experience is more evenly spread (Figure 4). 8

15 INTRODUCTION Figure 4 Time in business according to sector n=466 Grocery Restaurant Takeaway Bakery Butcher General retail Community/club No. of businesses < 5 yrs 5yrs+ While the project targeted six ethnic groups, the spread as represented by the main language of the respondents in the both the distribution of assessments and the composition of the survey sample is quite uneven. Over a quarter of the survey sample is Vietnamese (26%) and almost a third (31%) is South Asian with a quarter (25%) using Hindi or a range of South Asian languages (including Punjabi, Nepali, Bengali and Bangladeshi) and a further 6% identifying as Tamil. Arabic (17%) and Mandarin (11%) are moderately well represented but Cantonese (7%) and Thai (5%) are poorly represented (Figure 5). This distribution reasonably represents the language distribution of businesses assessed, with Vietnamese, South Asian, Arabic and Tamil being slightly over represented in the sample and Mandarin and Cantonese being under represented, in comparison with their proportion of the total assessments (Figure 5). Figure 5 Respondent language backgrounds: assessed businesses compared to survey sample n=627/477 Vietnamese Hindi/South Asian Arabic Mandarin Cantonese Thai Tamil Other With total survey sample comprising 77% of the total assessed businesses, it could be expected that a similar proportion of businesses within each language group completed the surveys, whatever their raw total of assessments. However, this varies substantially from less than half (Cantonese) to over 80% for Hindi/South Asian and 100% for Tamil (Figure 6). However, identification of Tamil language was primarily through the survey data, rather than the total assessed business data. The primary reason for the difference between language groups in survey rates is likely to have been the effectiveness of the language specific educators in ensuring surveys were completed at each business % of respondents Assessments Survey sample

16 INTRODUCTION Figure 6 Surveys as proportion of completed assessments by language group n=477 Tamil 100 Hindi Vietnamese Thai 68 Mandarin Arabic Cantonese Surveys % of assessments. Characterising the sample in overview Figure 7 Survey sample charted by language, sector, employees and management type 10

17 INTRODUCTION By charting a number of the characteristics of the sample together (Figure 7), it is clear that: - Most owner run businesses are small less than 5 employees. - Arabic speaking businesses are dominated by small convenience stores, many of which have managers, but a few of which are operated by the owner and are a bit larger. Overall, the survey sample for Arabic businesses were mainly managers. - Thai businesses surveyed were almost all restaurants. - Mandarin and Hindi/Tamil businesses surveyed were predominantly restaurants and grocery stores. - Large Mandarin and Thai restaurants tend to be operated by managers. - Vietnamese businesses surveyed spread across almost all sectors and were predominantly small owner operated businesses with less than five employees. - Butchers and bakers are predominantly Vietnamese and Arabic with the Arabic businesses operated mainly by managers. 11

18 SURVEY RESULTS: SYDNEY 3. Survey Results 3.1 Introduction The survey results have been grouped for reporting according to the following areas: Awareness, knowledge and understanding of electricity in their business Making changes to reduce electricity consumption Receiving and using information on electricity in their business This means that questions are not reported in the same order as they appear in the surveys, nor are the three surveys dealt with sequentially, rather all results are introduced relevant to each topic. The results include simple frequencies for the total group, and, for Sydney, the most pertinent significant differences on the basis of demographic characteristics, as well as selected tables for analysis of change between surveys on key questions. The sample group (n=) may vary between questions. While some questions did not require answers depending on prior questions, in other questions responses are simply missing and may reflect refusal to answer by respondent or question not asked by interviewer. The meaning of significant difference: In this study, testing for difference results in an indication if a particular result is statistically significant in being higher or lower than expected for that item. 'Expected' values are what would be expected if there was no relationship between the two factors represented in the cross tabulation, i.e. the same number (proportion) as the total for the whole sample. Individual significant difference quoted can be compared to the result for the whole group in the chart or to other groups on the same factor. All numbers given in the 'significant differences' sections are significantly higher or lower than the total n= for that question. All language group significant differences that are found with the questions throughout the results, are collated by language group for easy reference in Appendix 1. Full cross tabulations between each question and each demographic characteristic can be found in the (separate) Appendix 6. Reading change tables: A number of change tables are included in results. These are tables that diagrammatically show change from one survey to another on a single question. They consist of a series of cells with values and shading intensity according to the strength of the value. In reading the change the following applies: - If most of the coloured squares representing highest numbers are on the lower left to upper right diagonal, there was no/little change for the group represented in the table. - If most of the coloured squares and colour intensity (and thus respondents) are above the diagonal, there was overall change towards the characteristics on the upper part of the y axis. - if most of the coloured squares and colour intensity (and thus respondents) are below the diagonal, there was overall change towards characteristics on the lower part of the y axis. - If the colour is distributed relatively evenly above and below the diagonal there were changes in both directions that may cancel each other out overall. Some change tables are found in this results section. All change tables generated in the analysis are in Appendix 4 and a more detailed explanation is in Appendix 3. 12

19 SURVEY RESULTS: SYDNEY 3.2 Awareness, knowledge and understanding of electricity use Use of electricity in the business Q10. Pre project: From this list of areas of business use of electricity, can you tell me which uses most electricity in your business? Q21. Pre project (to interviewer): In Question 10 was the owner/manager correct in what they considered uses the most energy in their business? Refrigeration clearly dominates as the perceived primary user of electricity, with 61% nominating this area (Figure 8). Food preparation or baking was also recognised (by 20%) as an important source of their electricity demand but the other potential sources were nominated by only 5% or less. 7% were not sure, which indicates an important knowledge gap for reducing electricity use. Interviewer questions were introduced into this survey partway through the project. For 221 businesses the interviewer answered a question asking them to indicate if the business perception was correct. and 77% were considered correct in their perception of the highest energy user in their business. Only 10% were considered incorrect, and 4% did not know. Figure 8 Area considered to use the most electricity in the business n=464 Refrigeration Food preparation/baking Lighting Heating & cooling/hvac Office/shop equipment Hot water Don't know/not sure % of respondents Significant differences: - Butchers (96%) and grocery/convenience stores (84%) were significantly more likely to nominate refrigeration and bakeries (16%) and takeaways (34%) significantly less likely. - Restaurants (28%), bakeries (70%) and take away stores (48%) were more likely to nominate food preparation /baking, not mentioned at all by butchers, grocery stores, general retail stores or community/clubs sector. - General retail (61%) was most likely to nominate lighting and community/clubs (50%) to nominate heating and cooling. Q11a. Pre project: Are you aware of any actions that could be done to reduce electricity use in any of these areas? Could you name some? Almost two thirds (63%) of 467 businesses answering this question said they were not aware of any ways they could reduce electricity use in their business, while 37% (171 respondents) said they were aware of such actions. These aware respondents then named more structural changes (in equipment, their building or installations) than behavioural changes (changes in the way they use their equipment of electrical items). The structural changes mentioned were dominated by low cost changes, with no cost and high cost changes being mentioned almost equally, but substantially less often than low cost changes. By 13

20 SURVEY RESULTS: SYDNEY contrast, the behavioural changes mentioned were dominated by no cost changes, with few high cost changes mentioned (Figure 9). Figure 9 Actions named by businesses that would reduce their electricity use n=171, multiple response 80 No. of respondents Changes in equipment, building or installations Changes in use of equipment/ electrical items No cost Low cost High cost Significant differences: - Arabic (51%) and Hindi/Tamil (49%) businesses were significantly more likely to say they were aware compared to Mandarin (19%) and Vietnamese (17%) speakers, who were significantly less likely. Managers (51%) and larger business with 11+ employees (78%) were more likely to be aware than owners (30%) and smaller businesses with 5 or less employees (35%). - Of those who were aware, Mandarin speakers and larger businesses (11+ employees) were more likely to mention no cost changes in equipment, Vietnamese and Cantonese low cost changes in equipment, and Hindi low cost changes in behaviour. On the other hand, those who had been in their business 10+ years were less likely to cite behavioural changes of low or high cost. Electricity billing Q7. Pre project: How do you find understanding your electricity bill? For example: knowing how much the bill is, what the different charges in the bill are, and the increases in rates charged. Q1. Post project: How do you find understanding your electricity bill now? For example: knowing how much the bill is, what the different charges in the bill are, and the increases in rates. There were substantial changes in business understanding of their electricity bills through the course of this project. In the pre project survey less than half (49%) said they were either OK with understanding their bill or that it was very easy, while 26% said it was difficult and 16% said they did not look at their bill (Figure 10). By the post project survey 94% said it was easy or OK, no one was unsure and only 3% did not bother to look at the bill. Figure 10 Ease of understanding electricity bill pre and post project n=476/ Very easy OK Bit difficult Very difficult % of businesses Not sure Don't look at bill Pre project Post project

21 SURVEY RESULTS: SYDNEY Significant differences at the pre project stage: - Thai responses clustered at the easier end on very easy and OK. - Vietnamese and Hindi/Tamil responses clustered in the middle and were significantly higher on OK. - Cantonese responses were clustered on a bit difficult and very difficult, while significantly lower on OK (24%). - Mandarin responses were split, being higher for very easy and very difficult and lower in the middle for OK. - Arabic responses were significantly higher for not sure'. Post project, most responses had moved towards the easier end, but within language groups: - Mandarin were more likely to say very easy and less likely to say OK. Vietnamese were more likely to say OK and less likely to say very easy. Figure 11 shows the pattern of pre project responses for eachlanguage group in the horizontal distribution of green shading. The post project vertical distribution shows responses for all groups occurring predominantly in the lower OK/easy responses. No change in each table are the boxes along the lower left to upper right diagonal. Figure 11 *** p<0.001; ** p<0.01; * p<0.0; n.s. not significant 15

22 SURVEY RESULTS: SYDNEY In other significant differences in understanding electricity bills at the pre project stage: - Managers were more likely than owners to be unsure about their electricity bills (23% compared to 12%). - Those with a turnover of $500k+ had no trouble with their bills with 64% finding them OK to understand and 23% (significantly higher than the average 5%) finding them very easy. - On the other hand, those with a turnover of $100k 499k were more likely to find their bills very difficult to understand (16% compared to the average 7%). See Appendix 4 for other tables in the format of Figure 11 showing pre to post project changes on this question for all demographics. Q8. Pre project: Can you tell me if your electricity is charged at a flat rate or at different rates for different times of the day? (e.g. peak, shoulder, off peak) Q20. Pre project (to interviewer): After examining the bills and the method of charging for electricity for this business, was the owner/ manager correct in Question 8? Q3. Post project: Can you tell me if your electricity is charged at a flat rate or at different rates for different times of the day? Q13. Post project (to interviewer): After examining the bills and the method of charging for electricity for this business, was the owner/ manager correct in Question 3? It is important to note that this question on knowledge of electricity charging methods was not included in the pre project survey for early assessments but was asked of all participants in the post project survey, hence the smaller sample size at the pre project stage. The pre project survey revealed this as a major knowledge gap for managing electricity use when more than half did not know the basis of their electricity metering (Figure 12A). Figure 12 Knowledge of the way electricity is charged for their business A. Pre project survey, n= 355 B. Post project survey, n= 476 Don't know/ Not sure 51% Flat 22% Variable 27% Don't know/ Not sure 27% Variable 39% Flat, 34% The process of the BEST project, however, impacted significantly on this knowledge. By the post project survey the rate of 'don't know/not sure' had almost halved from 51% to 27% (Figures 12A and 10B). Where respondents felt they knew how their electricity was charged and interviewers saw the bills to judge whether they were correct, business knowledge was quite accurate with 94% (of n=126) correct in pre project survey and 98% (of n=304) correct at post project stage. Thus the change in the proportion who said they knew the basis of charging of their bills, from 49% to 73%, through the project indicates a substantial gain in key knowledge for managing electricity use. It is possible to track these changes from pre to post survey to examine the strength of change, although there was only a small sample of 107 businesses who answered this question at both preproject and post project stages and had bills available at both stages for assessment where they specified a method of charging. Analysis of change for this group (Figure 13) shows 76% were correct both pre and post project. There were 19% who changed positively who were either incorrect or didn't know their charging method at pre project but correctly knew their method of charging by the 16

23 SURVEY RESULTS: SYDNEY post project stage. The 5% of businesses that Figure 11 shows moving backwards in their knowledge may be accounted for by a different person completing the post project survey. Figure 13 Significant differences at pre project stage: - Arabic (66%) and Vietnamese (69%) businesses and those who had been in business 10+ years (65%) were significantly more likely to say they didn't know about the way they were charged for electricity while Hindi/Tamil businesses (35%) and those in business 2 4 years (38%) were less likely to say they did not know. - The higher the turnover, the fewer the businesses who were unsure. - Vietnamese and Thai businesses were most likely to have their bills available to see, and to be correct about their charging method (93% and 92% respectively). Post project: - Vietnamese businesses had changed least and were the most likely to say they didn't know (60%), while Arabic had gained the most and only 17% now said they didn't know. For all other language groups, less than 20% said they didn't know. - Thai and Cantonese businesses were most likely to have their bills available and to be correct about their charging method (95% and 94% respectively). Vietnamese (85%) were still also more likely to be correct but fewer had their bills available at this stage, accounting for the apparent drop from pre project stage. - In sectors, bakeries (88%) were most likely to be correct and convenience stores least likely (52%) but one third of these businesses (35%) did not have their bills available. Of those in businesses 10+ years, 77% now correctly knew their method of charging. - Significantly fewer Arabic and Hindi/Tamil businesses were assessed as correct in their knowledge of charging methods (52% and 39% respectively) but they had high rates of bills unavailable (25% and 55%) so that assessors could not make this judgment for many businesses. - As the sample of businesses for change analysis is small (107) sub group analysis of change largely yields non significant results because the sub groups are too small. 17