Study Released Sharing Best Practices For Changing Customer Behavior

Are you having a difficult time motivating your customers to change their energy consumption habits? The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy's (ACEEE) latest report highlights several successful behavior-based programs that your utility may want to consider trying out. In "Visible and Concrete Savings: Case Studies of Effective Behavioral Approaches to Improving Customer Energy Efficiency" you'll find examples of vocational training, billing programs, real-time energy tracking and smart metering initiatives that utilities are using to encourage their customers to take action. Some highlights include:

Kansas City Power and Light - Changing Behavior through Education
KCP&L subsidizes tuition costs in order to allow local facility operations staff to learn energy management best practices through the Building Operator Certification Program. To date, program graduates have saved an estimated 9.2 million kWh of electricity in KCP&L's service territory, far exceeding the initial goals of the program.

The Cape Light Compact - Empowering Customers with Real Time Energy Usage Data
The Cape Light Compact partnered with GroundedPower in Massachusetts to pilot an online tool that offered customers feedback on their energy consumption. An online dashboard provided real-time viewing of current energy use and demand, as well as savings measured in kWh, dollars and CO2 emissions. Customers who participated in the pilot used ~ 9.3 percent less energy.

Sacramento Municipal Utility District - Motivating Customers by Comparisons
Public power utility SMUD partnered with OPOWER, a company which provides customized reports allowing customers to compare their energy use to similar households and to compare current usage to past use. Over the course of a 16-month pilot, OPOWER's reports were effective in reducing energy demand by ~2.4 percent.

Hydro One - Providing Customers with Time of Use Pricing Tools
Ontario, Canada-based Hydro One installed smart meters in selected homes to help consumers take advantage of time-of-use pricing and measured the resulting change in energy use patterns. The pilot found that participating households saved ~6.5 percent of kWhs, based solely on customer's response to their meters.

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According to the analysis accompanying the full report, even though these approaches varied, each was highly successful in motivating customers to take action! However, as with all "best practice" programs you must carefully choose which tactics will work best for your target audience. Reviewing the success stories and lessons learned by your peers can be a great place to start! We also encourage you to share your own experiences with your peers by commenting below.