Cogent Reports: Robust Demand for Utility Energy Consumption Management Programs

Energy consumption management programs are in high demand according to a
study by Cogent
Reports™, a division of Market Strategies International. Capturing
this demand, however, is proving to be challenging for most of the
nation’s utilities. The few utilities that have achieved high levels of
awareness and usage are not only meeting customer needs, they are
benefitting from associated lifts in customer satisfaction trust. These
and other findings are included in The
New Energy Consumption Management Market™ report.

When asked about their level of interest across eight consumption
management programs, the majority of utility customers (83% on average)
express interest in at least one program. Interest is highest for
appliance rebates (61%) and time-of-use incentives (59%) and about 1 in
2 customers expressing interest in digital tools.

Very few utilities, meanwhile, have managed to capture this demand. With
the exception of mail-based energy usage analysis, which itself
struggles to reach 20%, most programs are currently utilized by less
than 10% of consumers nationwide. Low usage levels can be tied to the
fact that most consumers have heard of only one type of program, and one
in three (37%) are unaware of any programs offered by their local
utility.

“While clearly the goal should be to increase program usage, merely
increasing interest provides significant benefits to utilities,” said
Chris Oberle, senior vice president at Market Strategies International.
“Utilities that successfully educate customers about the features and
benefits of consumption management programs get a boost in customer
satisfaction and trust levels.”

Further hampering utilities’ ability to maximize adoption of consumption
management programs is the fact that most customers lack a sense of
urgency. While upwards of 50% of customers are interested in programs
once made aware, very few say they are likely to adopt programs in the
next six months.

“We have found that utilities that approach energy consumption
management programs with traditional product management discipline have
the greatest immediate demand and product usage experience for these
programs,” Oberle continued. “This includes planning, budgeting and
managing a targeted marketing effort like any retail company would.”

The study not only explores awareness and usage of—as well as interest
in—consumption management programs, but further assesses customers’
perceptions of their local utility on its efforts to educate, motivate
and deliver on programs. A small number of utilities in each region of
the country have managed to achieve high awareness and usage levels as
well as accolades from their customers on three of the eleven metrics,
including clearly explaining the programs they offer, having programs
that are easy to enroll in, and making information on programs easily
accessible.

* National Leader

About The New Energy Consumption Management Market

Cogent Reports, a division of Market Strategies, interviewed a national
sample of 25,812 consumers aged 20+ between January 1 and June 30,
2015. Respondents were recruited from opt-in online panels of US. Strict
quotas based on US census data were used to ensure a demographically
balanced sample of each evaluated utility’s customers based on age,
gender, income, race and ethnicity. Utilities within the same region and
of the same type (e.g., electric-only providers) are given equal weight
to balance the influence of each utility’s customers on survey results.
Due to its opt-in nature, this online panel (like most others) does not
yield a random probability sample of the target population. As such, it
is not possible to compute a margin of error or to statistically
quantify the accuracy of projections. Market Strategies will supply the
exact wording of all survey questions upon request.

The report is designed to help utilities understand and improve adoption
of energy consumption and smart energy technology among residential
customers. The report explores awareness and usage of—as well as
interest in—a variety of programs nationally, by region and across
individual utilities. Most importantly, the report quantifies the impact
consumption management programs have on four critical metrics, including
customer engagement, operational satisfaction, product experience and
brand trust. Topics and programs covered include Smart Meters, energy
efficiency rebates, energy audits, rooftop solar incentives, energy
tools, home network devices, and communication to manage energy use.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151026006618/en/

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