REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., June 22,
2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle Utilities Opower has
completely reimagined the Home Energy Report (HER).
Starting this summer, the new reports can help millions of
households save money and reduce their carbon footprint through
dynamic new experiences. With bold designs, new energy insights and
applied behavioral science, the new Opower HERs make it easy for
utilities to reach all types of customers and achieve outcomes
ranging from driving energy efficiency savings to increasing
customer satisfaction and digital channel engagement. They can also
be used to accelerate the adoption of energy-saving programs such
as efficient home upgrades and smart devices, and coach customers
to maximize the impact of emerging technology, such as residential
solar and electric vehicle charging.
"FirstEnergy serves multiple states, all with different customer
needs, efficiency goals and regulatory structures, so it's
important that we design and scale programs to achieve those many
goals," said Nicole Williams, manager, energy efficiency,
residential programs, FirstEnergy. "The new Opower Home Energy
Reports – with their highly individualized insights, flexible
design and continuous learning model – will help engage customers
and deliver all the results we need throughout our service
territories."
The new Opower Home Energy Reports are powered by the most
complete platform in the industry, empowering utilities to
create holistic customer journeys that achieve a wide range of
demand side management (DSM) and engagement outcomes. For more
information listen to the results National Grid has already
achieved with the reimagined HER here.
New engagement innovations can help everyone save
Opower has sent nearly a billion reports on behalf of its
utility clients since it pioneered the HER in 2007. This milestone
represents more than 3,300 collective program years of experience
geared to optimize paper, digital and combination programs.
Collectively, these reports have resulted in utility customers
saving more than 25 terawatt-hours of energy, enough to power all
the households in Dallas, Texas
for 3.5 years or stream 125 billion videos. But as customers and
challenges evolve, so must the techniques to reach and solve
them.
Backed by new advancements in behavioral science, artificial
intelligence (AI) and appliance-level disaggregation, the new
Opower HER delivers better outcomes by providing truly personalized
insights for every type of customer through:
- Ever-evolving experiences: One-size (or color) certainly
does not fit all. Dynamic and changing HER layouts are designed to
catch and maintain customer attention, including those who have
been receiving the same HERs for years. This includes being able to
size and strategically place certain insights and icons for maximum
exposure and action. With better use of color and visual appeal,
the reports provide a poster-like format that the entire household
can understand and use to make smarter energy choices.
- Unique energy journeys: The reimagined HERs enable
utilities to tailor outreach to connect with a diverse audience and
autonomously optimize the experience for each customer by the
channel and content they receive. For instance, when Opower detects
an EV charging in the home, the customer is sent recommendations on
the best times to charge. Variable rate customers see peak pricing
insights. Limited income customers receive low and no-cost
recommendations. The adaptability of the platform allows utilities
to use paper reports to engage hard-to-reach customers and lead
them to sustained engagement through digital channels over time. By
delivering the right energy insight and recommendation through the
right channel every time, the new Opower HERs help utilities
deliver more customer value, influence buying behaviors, and
increase intended results.
- Agility to experiment: The flexible nature of the new
Opower HER makes it a large-scale laboratory for testing and
carefully measuring new behavioral techniques and consumer
engagement tactics. New Opower platform capabilities enable faster,
easier, more cost-effective pilots that extend beyond print and
email HERs. For example, The Opower X team recently created a
first-of-its-kind video energy report pilot with National Grid.
Customers received personalized, animated insights on their usage
and advice on how to save and cut costs. The project yielded 12
times the average click-through rates than standard digital
reports.
- New behavioral science techniques: While the HER
neighbor comparison has been central to getting people to act,
sustaining engagement over time demands varying approaches. The new
generation of HER continues to innovate with new behavioral
techniques to get customers to take that next step or leap,
including offering:
-
- "Efficiency Zones" – a new take on normative comparisons
that compares a customer's energy use to a target zone, rather than
to similar efficient homes.
- "Energy Use Benchmarks" – indicates a customer's relative
level of efficiency in a simple way at the top of the report.
- "Moments of Pride" – congratulates customers for taking an
action, motivating them to be even more energy efficient.
"For more than ten years, Opower has been instrumental in
engaging our customers through a range of behavioral techniques and
communications channels," said Amanda
Janaskie, manager energy efficient programs, Baltimore Gas
& Electric. "We've been an early adopter of many Opower
innovations, so it was natural to be one of the first to deploy
these new reports. They will be instrumental in delivering on our
commitment to provide customers with personalized experiences that
help save energy and money."
"Our ability to make every report a new experience for all types
of customers not only delivers industry-leading results, but it
also creates a testbed for trying new behavioral techniques and
engagement strategies," said Scott
Neuman, GVP of Oracle Utilities Opower. "Our reimagined HER
is a major leap forward that allows utilities to execute successful
programs and help build our clean energy future right now."
Additional Resources:
- National Grid webinar and release
- Baltimore Gas & Electric Behavioral Load Shaping
release
- Oracle Utilities blog
- Learn more about Opower here
About Oracle
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of integrated applications for Sales, Service, Marketing, Human
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