Migration Consequences for Household Energy Consumption in a Nonmetropolitan Recreation‐Retirement Area¹

Abstract

We consider here the energy consumption characteristics of migrants and nonmigrants in two northern Wisconsin counties characterized by relatively rapid growth as areas of retirement and recreational activities. Migrants from metropolitan areas use more electricity when measured at the meter and report driving more. Both of these differentials are sustained even after controlling for personal and behavioral variables, appliance ownership, and type of energy use. Metropolitan migrants do not spend more for space heating, although there is again a positive effect on space heating energy consumption net of the other variables. We conclude that metropolitan migrants make an energy impact on the area, due in part, to their characteristics, housing, and type of energy consumption, but also because of differences in the way they use energy. In these ways they add an element of heterogeneity to the rural community, as well as increased demand for energy consumption.

“Culture Clash'' Revisited: Newcomer and Longer‐Term Residents' Attitudes Toward Land Use, Development, and Environmental Issues in Rural Communities in the Rocky Mountain West*

“…Metro-origin in-migrants also may support environmental protection because many are employed or gain their subsistence from sources outside the traditional occupational structure of their new community, because of social network ties with other environmentalists and organizations, and because of the greater perceived efficacy of political activism . In-migrants attracted by opportunities for outdoor recreation are also likely to exhibit more pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors than are many established residents (see Dunlap and Heffernan 1975 ;Theodori, Luloff, and Willits 1998), even though some research suggests that some of the in-migrants' activities consume more resources than those of longer-term residents (Fuguitt, Heberlein, and Rathbun 1991).…”