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BUSINESS AND STRATEGY UTILITIES MUST PROACTIVELY ENGAGE THEIR CUSTOMERS – HERE'S HOW M odern customer engagement through multiple channels — and for multiple has become a more proactive purposes. process for utilities. Customers expect more from their utilities US utility spending on customer engagement than just electricity service, and are more solutions is likely to grow to meet these interested in understanding their energy challenges. Navigant Research expects a Strap: consumption, customer engagement and helping Billing and reducing their use, modest rise in spending, growing from environment. Meanwhile, utilities customers, and here million in to 2016 it to $774 million in 2022, $636 is how do Title: the Utilities must proactively engage their are interested in using energy efficiency and at a compound annual growth rate of 3.3%. Modern customer engagement has become a more proactive process for utilities. Customers expect more from their demand-side management measures to utilities than just electricity service, and are more interested in understanding their energy consumption, reducing their to avoid Meanwhile, Online using energy efficiency use, reduce load the and environment. constructing utilities are interested in customer engagement and solutions and helping demand-side new and expensive reduce which to avoid are anticipated to supply, the bulk management measures to supply, load and requires constructing new and expensive represent which requires of customer participation. Engaging customers previously entailed sending investments, as self-service with tools via the a monthly energy bill, dealing high bill complaints, customer participation. Engaging customers and finding resolutions for customers a experiencing power outages. or mobile applications solutions for can engaging previously entailed sending monthly web Today, utilities must find (apps) help customers through multiple channels—and for multiple purposes. energy bill, dealing with high bill complaints, reduce traffic to call centres and customers US utility finding resolutions for engagement solutions is likely often grow favour meet this these challenges. Navigant Research to to and spending on customer customers method of communication. expects a modest rise in spending, growing from $636 million According $774 a million in by 2022, at a compound annual in 2016 to to study experiencing power outages. Today, utilities Accenture, growth rate of 3.3%. must find solutions for engaging customers consumers prefer a do-it-yourself approach (Source: Navigant Research) Chart 1 Utility Capital Spending for Customer Engagement Solutions, United States: 2016-2022 $900 $800 $700 Web Call Center Billing Outage ($ Millions) $600 $500 $400 $300 $200 $100 $- 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 (Source: Navigant Research) Chart 1: Utility capital spending for customer engagement solutions, United States: 2016-2022 Online customer engagement solutions are anticipated to represent the bulk of investments, as self-service tools via the web or mobile applications (apps) can help reduce traffic to call centers and customers often favor this method of 48 communication. According to a study by Accenture, consumers prefer a do-it-yourself approach for 70% of their Online customer engagement solutions are anticipated to represent the bulk of investments, as self-service tools via the web or mobile applications... for 70% of their interactions with energy providers. Competitive landscape Solutions are emerging to address the needs of the modern utility, and these are largely based on consumer data and online tools. Opower, a leader in the utility-customer engagement space known for pioneering the home energy report, analyses smart meter data in a cloud-based platform to engage customers through better energy consumption information. Opower’s platform also includes online billing, behaviour demand response capabilities, high bill alerts, utility notifications, an online auditing tool, rewards programmes, and targeted recommendations and tips. Other competitors in the space include companies like Bidgely, which offers a white-label platform to utilities called HomeBeat Energy Monitor. HomeBeat uses customer data to disaggregate energy use among household devices to help utility customers prioritize energy-savings efforts. The platform includes a mobile app and web portal that has features for personalised energy-saving insights, neighborhood comparisons, alerts and notifications, and social media channels. Tendril, another competitor in the space, released its MyHome app last year, which has been used by utilities such as Duke Energy and American Electric Power. This platform pulls data from multiple disparate utility systems to unify utility messaging to customers. Customers receive an energy identity that allows for more targeted messaging based METERING INTERNATIONAL ISSUE – 1 | 2017