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May 1, 2006
Clicking to Energy Savings, Public Power Magazine, May-June 2006
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Tim Blodgett
Hometown Connecitons
303-526-4515
tblodgett@hometownconnections.com
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Online Energy Audits and Information
About six years ago, to help customers monitor and reduce their energy usage, the Lodi, Calif., Electric Utility added a link on the utility’s Web site to Enercom’s online energy analysis applications. By 2006, with energy costs on the rise, the number of customers requesting more specialized audit services began to overwhelm the utility staff. So the utility joined the growing list of public power utilities working with Enercom to enhance and customize online energy information services.
Through its alliance with Hometown Connections, Enercom offers public power utilities a collection of energy analysis applications, including Energy Depot for Homes, Energy Depot for Business and Water Depot for Homes. These applications feature online energy audits, easy-to-read graphs, recommendations on energy savings, an appliance calculator showing energy usage and costs, and a comprehensive energy library with tips and fact sheets for residential and commercial customers.
The content and appearance of the Energy Depot applications can be customized and integrated into each utility’s Web site. They can also be linked securely to customer care and billing systems. Alternatively, Enercom can host the applications and seamlessly link them to the utility’s Web site. More than 200 energy and water companies use Enercom’s custom software to attract, enroll, retain, care for and sell to customers in ways that build revenues, customer loyalty, and brand equity.
Lodi Electric serves about 24,000 residential and 3,500 small business customers, said Rob Lechner, manager, customer service and programs, for the utility. “Because of our limited staff and time, we need to capture efficiencies wherever possible. Online energy audits, as provided so professionally by Enercom, allow us to meet our customers’ needs more efficiently and effectively.”
Lodi Electric staff worked closely with Enercom to customize the utility’s Web site, making the energy audit for residential customers an easy-to-use tool. “Instead of moving through a detailed energy audit online right off the bat, customers now can access an EZ-Audit first, to save time and obtain information on their home energy consumption,” Lechner said. “If customers want a more detailed audit, the longer, more involved online energy audit is available. In addition, customers may still request an on-site energy audit. However, our goal is to move more customers to the online EZ-Audit program.
“Our relationship with Hometown Connections many years ago influenced our decision to select Enercom as our provider for online energy audit services,” Lechner said. “There are other service providers in the market. However, the recent customization of our site reinforces the confidence we have in Enercom’s ability to deliver.”
City Utilities of Springfield, Mo., began using the online services from Enercom in 2001. “We have been very pleased with the number of customers that use the online tools,” said Cara Shaefer, administrator, energy management. “It is very interesting and helpful to track these numbers as the seasons change and people are more concerned about their energy usage. For example, we saw a surge in visits this past fall with the increased attention to higher-than-normal energy costs.”
The Rock Hill Utilities Department in South Carolina offers the Energy Depot applications as an energy education tool for its customers. “As with any utility, our human resources are limited and addressing a large volume of customer inquiries about how to lower their energy costs can be a challenge, particularly during the cooling months,” Key Accounts Manager Lori Nielsen said. “Energy Depot offers a comprehensive library of information that is easily accessible via the city’s Web site, so we’re able to reach a larger percentage of our customer base with this tool. Energy Depot has also become a valuable information resource and education tool for our customer service representatives.” Since the launch of the service in March 2005, the staff of the Rock Hill Utilities Department is spending less time on the phone with customers or in the field conducting energy audits.
Once Rock Hill signed a contract with Enercom, it took only three weeks to launch the service on the utility Web site. Customers learn of the service from bill inserts and by word of mouth. The utility also promotes the service at public events such as Earth Day Birthday and Public Power Week.
The feedback from customers has been positive, Nielsen said. “People are beginning to grasp that there are so many variables that affect their electric costs, with one of the most important variables being an individual’s consumption habits. Customers who use the Energy Depot services are now much more in tune with how much electricity is used in their homes and how minimal changes in their consumption habits can result in obvious cost savings.”
Enercom has served the public power community as a Hometown Connections partner for more than six years. “Our Energy Depot product suites allow public power utilities to provide valuable help to residential and business customers faced with higher energy costs,” said Enercom President and CEO Paul Conlan. By year-end 2006, Enercom will upgrade all clients for Energy Depot for Homes and Energy Depot for Business to its new version 5.0. Both versions will include new features to make the online tools more beneficial and easier for customers to use.
Susan Ryba is a marketing consultant for Hometown Connections.
See these Web sites for more information.
• Hometown Connections
• Enercom
• Product Demonstration
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