Energy discrimination

Energy efficiency is supposed to save you money. It would seem to me to be logical that the poorer you are, the more you should benefit from using less and thus spending less on electricity. Unfortunately, it often doesn't work out like that.

We went shopping for combination fridge/freezers on the weekend. Two models caught our eye, an Electrolux and a Westinghouse. Both are manufactured in the same factory and share the same basic shells, but the premium Electrolux branded models come with a newer and significantly more energy efficient compressor. The Electrolux fridges were also far more expensive.

So what you save in electricity you probably spend in upfront costs. So much for encouraging energy efficiency! I wonder if the new more energy efficient compressors cost more money and energy to manufacture. How much energy, especially in comparison to that saved in usage?