Critical Success Factors as a Tool for Sustainable Efficient Electricity Management in Nigeria Public Universities

Abstract

University subsector is one of the fastest-growing electricity consumers in Nigeria and is known to have significant impacts on Nigeria energy mix. Various electricity conservation measures have been adopted for improving efficient electricity use but in terms of sustainability little success has been achieved due to inability to tackle some barriers. Exploring into CSFs has been identified as one of the surest ways of removing barriers towards meeting sustainable efficient energy management and savings in HEIs. Focusing on the importance of practicing energy management effectively, this study developed a set of critical success factors for implementing electricity management in university subsector with emphasis on sustainability. Data for the study were collected from three public universities in Southwestern Nigeria, namely Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, University of Ibadan and Federal University of Technology, Akure, to obtain stakeholders’ perspective on the importance of proposed CSFs. The existing 23 CSFs were utilised and evaluated by 4728 experts and users randomly selected from academic office buildings, students’ hostels, staff quarters and business units. The data for the study were collected through a structured questionnaire and were analysed using mean index, factor analysis and logistic binary regression. The results show that all the attributes are significant for achieving sustainable efficient electricity management. The study concluded that achieving sustainable efficient electricity management practice in public universities requires seeking top management support, establishment of comprehensive energy management team and inclusion of stakeholders in energy management of the facility.

Keywords: CSFs, Efficient, Electricity, Nigeria, Tool, Sustainable, University