E Source Blog
Welcome to the E Source Blog! Our staff will share insights and observations about life at E Source, our events, our research, and other fun stuff.
We’ve heard some crazy stories since the launch of Pokemon GO. Well, utilities have taken to social media to urge players to use common sense and stay away from dangerous electrical equipment and power plants. But utilities are also engaging with players in fun and productive ways. Check out some recent utility social media posts, and let us know how you feel about this whole situation.
You’ve heard of Wi-Fi, but have you heard of Li-Fi? An office building in Paris is slated to open later this year that will deliver the Internet via the light fixtures. Sound like science fiction? Lighting is increasingly expected to be a promising gateway to deliver wider building controls, automation, and Internet of Things capabilities while presenting fewer barriers to entry than other channels, especially for small and midsize business (SMB) customers. Join us at the 2016 E Source Forum, September 13–16, to learn how commercial lighting programs are being re-envisioned to account for technology, regulatory, and market changes.
Our rock-star Customer Experience (CX) research team is planning some exciting CX sessions for the E Source Forum in September. Meet the people who are here to help E Source members optimize their CX efforts. They’re experts on employee engagement, change management, and company culture, and they’re always researching new ways to help you improve your customers’ digital CX journeys, self-service, billing and payment, paperless billing adoption, contact center management, website accessibility, and anything else you might want to know about customer experience. Ask them a question or look for them at the Forum in September!
Optimizing a customer’s interaction with a website feature like Energy-Use Analysis is important for utilities to think about, especially when implementing an omnichannel strategy. While utilities have made some strides when it comes to the content around this feature—such as providing comparisons to similar homes—they’re still not connecting the dots for customers. That is, they’re not consolidating the data and content related to customers’ energy use. The solution is to house energy-use information in one place so it’s easy for customers to find and take action on.
As costs go up and vendors scale back, refrigerator-recycling programs have faced increasing pressure over the past five years. Maintaining cost-effectiveness is not as easy as it once was, but a new E Source report can help you find ways to serve the many customers who, like me, have a hard time motivating themselves to upgrade to efficient appliances.
Over the past week, utilities across the US and Canada have been breaking out their patriotic spirit to celebrate Independence Day and Canada Day. Whether making references to historical roots, saluting armed forces, putting safety out front, or making ties to programs and services, the following are examples of some of the highest-performing social media posts from across the land.
Utilities and their residential customers are exploring the potential benefits of energy disaggregation—from improved customer education to cheaper measurement and verification. Unfortunately, the available tools on the market are highly variable when it comes to their accuracy in identifying end uses within the home. With that in mind, I’ve summarized a variety of potential benefits of disaggregation and compiled some general suggestions on the minimum level of accuracy required to realize them.
During a time of low load growth, data centers are an anomaly, consuming massive amounts of electricity to process and store the data generated by millions of customers. These large customers spend big bucks on energy, so utilities can and should help them achieve their energy-efficiency and sustainability goals. Check out a new E Source report that details the main attributes and priorities of these power-hungry businesses.
Beat the Heat: Letting Your Full Digital Potential Shine to Encourage Safety and Savings This Summer
As summer ramps up, utilities are rolling out their tips and tricks campaigns. So far, the messages are focused on safety, energy efficiency, and fun, and they’re showing up on digital displays, websites, social media, and streaming video and radio platforms. Customers are getting a full-spectrum digital experience, and I’m excited to see what else these creative utility marketers have in store for us.