Few sociological studies have analyzed young people as energy consumers. Yet, young people have increased their energy consumption significantly over the past decades due to their use of energy intensive devices, such as information and communication technologies (ICT) and motorized transportation, and their washing and cleaning practices. According to research carried out by members of the team, both teenagers' energy spending at home and their strong engagement with entertainment equipments and mobile communication are acknowledged by Portuguese families. The use of electronic media by young people does play a significant role in their lives, due to wide access to these technologies, the time daily spent using it and what it means in terms of social connections, entertainment, information, education and even status or prestige among peer groups [11] [12]. Regarding these technologies' implications on energy consumption, very few studies have approached their daily use in households. Some exceptions are a study by [4] in which material structures such as design and marketing of consumer electronics, and also the services which support them, are found to encourage practices of intensive consumption of energy. Another study by [6] found that to prevent the predictable rise in electricity consumption due to ICT use, there is a need for much more user involvement in energy-saving strategies. Furthermore, [13] observed that engagement towards reducing standby energy consumption emerges out of social relationships and the motivation can be related to economic or environmental concerns.</p><p>Most studies on youth and energy draw from environmental education research, focusing on individual attitudes and energy literacy. In such perspective, young people's environmental awareness and knowledge on energy issues tend to be considered levers for the development of a capacity for agency towards energy saving [10]. Yet, despite exhibiting high levels of concern about environmental issues, young people increasingly show a 'paralysis of action and sense of powerlessness' regarding their agency towards environmental change [14]. As [15] states, this gap between environmental attitudes and behaviors represents a failure in most current policies and models of social change, which are based on the assumption that the adoption of pro-environmental behaviors depends on individuals' attitudes and rational choices. A valuable contribute from sociology to help to overcome this focus on individual attitudes may be a focus on social practices, as it shifts attention from the individuals' agency and choice to the processes whereby structural elements such as materials (things, technologies, physical entities), competences (skills, know-how, techniques), and meanings (symbolic, ideas, aspirations) are connected and enacted in the form of patterns of practices, allowing to explain the dynamics of reproduction and transformation of social practices [16]. This is an emerging fruitful approach to the study of consumption and pro-environmental behavior change, as it tries to overcome the duality between agency and structure, avoiding individualistic accounts, and giving wider insights into the complexities of the collective organization of everyday life than other approaches [17] [18] [19] [20]. < Theories of practice are based in the work of [21], [22] and others, which was recently revived with the contributions of [23], [24], [17] and [25]. In this perspective, practices are routinised behaviors composed of several elements interconnected and interwoven with objects, which are carried out by individuals in the course of their normal everyday life [24] [16]. By capturing inconspicuous routines, theories of practice are useful for the analysis of energy consumption in households, as energy is consumed as a mean to accomplishing social practices, and not as a practice itself [17]. Thus, despite the invisibility of energy consumption [26], theories of practice shed light to several structural conditions that contribute to promoting practices, which unwittingly consume too much energy. That is the case of marketing appeals to buying new equipments, often suggesting their energy efficiency disregarding the rebound effects of technology use [27]. These theories also give insights into competences. For instance, as it was observed by members of the team, there are significant gender differences in knowledge on energy issues and know-how on energy saving practices [28]. Regarding the analysis of engagements, youth culture, together with peer pressure and families' support, contribute to attract young people to consumption, as observed in a study on children's food consumption practices [29]. Thus, teenagers' emotional needs and concerns over identity, status and belonging to peer groups may conflict with practices of energy saving, particularly if these deviate from the peer group's norms. Special attention will be given to social interactions around practices related to electronic media. Although social interactions have not been given much attention in theories of practice, recently some authors have underlined the influence of mediators in practices changes, and thus the relevance of adding this component to the analysis of practices [30] [19].