An important goal for any utility provider is to ensure that they have an ongoing strategy to reduce energy consumption and that it has a successful plan in place for managing conservation and demand.
Not only is this important for utility providers when it comes to saving money and becoming more efficient, but it’s also now an essential part of the customer experience.
Customers are now expecting more engagement from their utility providers than ever before, and they are demanding increased information that can help them understand, manage and alter their energy usage – a service that didn’t exist for utility providers just a few years ago.
A study from Accenture found that more than half (58%) of consumers now want their utility to provide them with recommendations and ideas for energy savings, and nearly all (92%) want to receive personalized digital notifications about their usage.
By implementing a successful conservation and demand management program your utility will be able to educate and incentivize customers to monitor and adjust their consumption accordingly.
What is Conservation and Demand Management?
While conservation and demand management initially started as a way of helping customers to reduce their utility usage during peak hours, it has evolved into a way of improving the overall customer experience by educating them on the various ways they can save money as well as reduce their carbon footprint.
Conservation and demand strategies generally focus on three main areas:
- Demand response: Providing information to customers on their usage in response to financial signals.
- Conservation: Helping to encourage behaviours in which consumers use less of their energy, whether it be water, electricity or gas.
- Energy efficiency: Educating the consumer on how to use new technologies and data to use energy more efficiently.
By providing innovative tools as well as self-service and real-time information through notifications and alerts, utility providers are able both educate their customers and help them save money, as well as reach their own conservation and demand management goals.
What tools can a utility provider use for conservation and demand management?
Both utility providers and the government have a wide range of initiatives to help with conservation and demand management, and utility providers are taking on an even larger role in the education of best practices.
Initiatives such as financial incentives and rebates, promotions, awareness campaigns and educational websites have long been provided as a way of conservation and demand management. However, utilities are taking this even further with the use of innovative new technology.
New tools such as smart meters, notifications and alerts and self-service portals that customers can easily access on their preferred device are providing utility customers with the technology needed to both manage and track their energy usage.
As a result, utility customers will have easy access to detailed data, and the patterns and insights necessary to make real-time changes to their energy usage – saving them money and cutting down their carbon footprint.
Not only does this help meet your conservation and demand goals, but it also greatly improves your utility’s customer experience and positions your utility as a trustworthy, approachable, transparent and customer-focused business.
Does Your Utility Have a Customer Portal in Place?
To successfully implement a conservation and demand management program that uses innovative technology to educate customers, it’s essential that your utility has a centralized platform that provides the necessary tools for consumers to learn about their energy usage.
The silverblaze Customer Portal is a self-service web platform that provides all the tools, data and informative content that consumers need in order to learn about their energy usage and make necessary modifications.
Tools such as our smart metering module or our push notifications will allow customers to set individual usage goals, whether daily, weekly or monthly, and provide the data they need to make a smarter decision.
Want to learn how the silverblaze Customer Portal can help with your utility’s conservation and demand management objectives? Contact us today to find out more or to receive a free demo.
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