References to the energy-efficiency benefits expected to flow from smart grid deployments are commonplace. Not all actions that reduce the energy bill, however, constitute energy efficiency in the strict meaning of the term; many are properly classified as conservation or load shifting, neither of which intrinsically provides the reliable and long-lasting savings of energy efficiency. An examination of the components of the smart grid shows that the customer-facing elements will, in fact, primarily motivate conservation and load-shifting behaviors rather than energy efficiency.