Energy efficiency and energy saving are important aspects of sustainable consumption. Programmes to promote energy saving exhibit various levels of success, partly due to contextual features. The evaluation literature addresses the role of context and framework conditions in the successfulness energy policy programmes, but has largely overlooked the temporal dimensions of the programme context. This paper explores the various roles of timing of the programme in relation to changing context. There is evidence that timing does indeed influence the success of a programme, but good timing is often considered a matter of ″luck″. There is a lack of conceptualisation of timing in the context of programme planning and evaluation, which makes it difficult to introduce issues of timing into programme design. We understand timing as activity which brings together multiple elements at a particular point in time. In the context of energy saving programmes, timing includes processes and strategies whereby the programme interacts with changes in its context. This paper presents examples of the impact of timing, and suggests a useful framework for conceptualising the role of timing in managing energy systems change. The framework distinguishes between endogenous and exogenous timing, and suggests different timing issues in past, ongoing and future layers of the programme context. The framework contributes to a better understanding of how timing issues relate to successful design of energy saving programmes.
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