Do public programs in ‘energy regions’ affect citizen attitudes and behavior?

•Comprehensive and systematic municipal energy transition framework.•Implemented measures slightly impact citizen attitudes.•Implemented measures yield only marginal positive effects on behavior.•Transition framework might also be accompanied by negative behavioral side effects.•Behavioral reactions need to be considered in transition frameworks.

In this paper we analyze the effect of regional and municipal measures for promoting energy transition on citizen attitudes and behavior. We compare one township that has successfully implemented a comprehensive and systematic energy-saving program (the so-called e5 program) with a township without such a program. The results indicate that despite the program׳s ambitious aims, e5 implementation has almost no impact on citizen attitudes and behavior. In fact, there are some signs that it might even have slight negative side effects.