Educating consumers about the benefits of smart meters, demand response and other energy efficiency initiatives - and how they relate to the Smart Grid - is essential to customer adoption and our energy future. This section provides news and resources on customer engagement challenges and successes.
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If utilities want to be best in class at customer engagement, they should look at practices used in competitive service industries to help them tailor their offers and communication strategies to the right segments of the market. That was one of the takeaways from the recent Smart Grid Consumer Symposium. SGCC Executive Director Patty Durand has more.
In this week's blog about his stint on a privacy panel put on by the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative, security ace Andy Bochman ponders why the SGCC needs to exist - and then answers his own question: Without it, there would be no one out there to give consumers a reasoned and sensible alternative to the alarmist ranting they're frequently exposed to in the mainstream media. (And he provides a good example of what he's talking about.)
As utilities prepare for smart meter roll outs, the CEO of UK-based Sentec suggests a key consideration for the IT infrastructure associated with those roll outs should be the capability to both store data and relay it back to the consumer in an easily digestible format. Click for Mark England's perspective on how to go about that.
A recent IBM global survey showed that up to three-quarters of consumers are concerned about the confidentiality and security of home energy use data. What to do? Matt Futch, Global Policy Director with IBM Energy & Utilities, argues that appropriately designed industry practices and regulatory guidance can help the energy ecosystem protect sensitive information. Click for his examples of how and where it's already happening.
Marketing and advertising companies have been taking advantage of social media for years, and now more and more electric utilities are catching on - using them for their own marketing, communications and business strategies, according to a new white paper from Pike Research. Get more on the story inside.
It looks like the great majority of Oklahoma Gas & Electric customers like their smart meters, a welcome contrast to the recent slew of bad press about consumer pushback and attempts to block installations. The utility's customers are really appreciating the lower electric bills, the company says.
Utilities looking for a good source of consumer-friendly information have a new resource with the launch of SmartGrid.eei.org, the Edison Electric Institute's smart grid microsite designed to help the public understand how the smart grid benefits them.
We told you recently about smart grid resistance in Florida, Connecticut and Illinois, adding to the list of states experiencing consumer pushback. Click for an update on the situation in Illinois, where anti-smart grid activists in Naperville just lost a round.
What's the application that will take smart grid over the top? That will make it seem as obvious, inevitable and valuable as the Internet seems to us today? Some say it's demand response, some say voltage optimization, some say customer empowerment. What do YOU say? That's this week's Tuesday Topic in our discussion forum.
GE Appliances and Flint Energies have teamed up in a pilot project to better understand the potential for GE's Brillionâ„¢-enabled appliances to save consumers money and lower peak load when coupled with peak time rebates. And a Colorado company is bringing its online game designed to get consumers involved in saving energy to Texas.
The Arlington, VA company that works with utilities in the U.S. and U.K. to provide energy usage data to utility customers has committed to abide by a set of data principles that cover access, security and privacy. If others in the industry follow Opower's lead, could it help reduce consumer pushback?
A UK-based smart home technology startup is making its first commercial launch in the U.S. in partnership with retail giant Lowe's. AlertMe gear is sleek and sexy and Lowe's has big plans for the new service it will offer on the AlertMe platform. But will consumers buy retail - or hold out for a utility subsidy?
To a certain segment of the U.S. population, saving money and debt control is a top priority, driving their do-it-yourself home improvement projects, energy savings and interest in smart grid pricing programs. In today's post, Patty Durand of the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative paints a fascinating picture of the so-called "DIY & Save" segment and explains how their frugal mindset impacts their support of smart grid programs.
The research is clear - better understanding will lead to a better, smarter electric grid. And now you can do your part to spread the word about why we need to modernize the grid and the benefits that will result for everyone. We've packaged up an awesome Smart Grid 101 package, including a free eBook, a great video and three more fun resources you can use to share the smart grid story.
A Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative study identified five distinct consumer segments in the U.S., each defined by attitudes and values as they relate to smart grid issues. Click inside where SGCC Executive Director Patty Durand drills down on the "concerned green" segment and how their mindset may influence smart grid support.
Utilities around the country will want to keep a close eye on the progress of NV Energy's smart grid project. As a piece of that, the Nevada utility is taking an intriguing approach to encourage customers to enroll in demand response and dynamic pricing. Click inside for more on NV Energy's "big carrot" strategy.
It is an evolutionary shift for a utility to go from serving all customers the same smart grid message and program to tailoring the message and offering based on customers' needs, wants, habits and practices. Yet some utilities are already doing it successfully. Patty Durand of the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative highlights their strategies.
Now that it is 98% finished with one of the country's most successful smart meter deployments, San Diego Gas & Electric is shifting its emphasis to moving customers up the engagement curve. SGN Chief Analyst Jesse Berst shares insights from his conversation with the man in charge of making it happen.
Pacific Gas & Electric this week asked the California PUC for the green light on six new smart grid pilot projects. The utility's plans range from enhancing distribution system reliability and flexibility to implementing voltage and grid control systems to cut customer costs, as well developing customer outreach programs.
Consumers may not be sitting around the table giving thanks for reliable and affordable energy this holiday. But Patty Durand, Executive Director of the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative, is here with the ingredients for successful consumer participation in smart grid programs. Click inside for proven, ground-level messages, incentives and calls-to-action that leading utilities have used. (It's a recipe others may want to borrow.)
Consumer perceptions may be at odds with the smart grid value proposition as portrayed by utilities. That's according to research from the Electric Power Research Institute. Christina Haddad provides a deep dive on EPRI's findings.
Utilities from Connecticut to California are still facing complaints that the consumer benefits of smart meters don't justify the cost. Could it be that utilities are still telling the wrong story?
After the historic storm that clobbered Northeastern states last month, utilities got a lot of criticism for being too slow in their response to restore service. Jonas Olsen of On-Ramp Wireless has some thoughts on how utilities can be better prepared for the next natural disaster. Click inside for his insights.
As part of a stimulus-funded project, KEMA will help a Montana utility install home energy management gear in 200 homes. Then it will use a variety of outreach methods to convince and coach them. Is this the future of customer engagement?
In what may be the most useful study we've seen in a long time, the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative has identified best practices for smart grid consumer engagement based on real-world findings from 20 mature AMI projects around the country. Trust us; you won't want to miss this.
We're getting mixed signals about the vitality of the smart grid market. On the one hand, the recent DistribuTECH conference was one of the most successful ever. On the other, a well-known Wall Street analyst recently told his clients that the smart metering sector is "facing several headwinds," including weak regulatory support in the U.S. and delays in European adoption. Taking the pulse of the smart grid industry is this week's Tuesday Topic.
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