Your Utility added you as a friend on Facebook…

Now that utilities have access to the gear necessary to deploy smart grid technologies in the tens of millions this year, one of the remaining burning questions is how to improve dialogue with customers and develop more meaningful relationships. This topic warrants discussing a couple factors that will help shape the dialogue that can lead to those meaningful relationships:

• How should we engage customers (by what means)?
• What should we talk about?

How should we engage customers?

Energy Management Displays, Web Based Applications, Mobile Applications

One of the relevant concerns that has emerged in the rollout of smart meters, is the incongruous deployment of energy management displays and other complementary smart devices. Along with providing highly convenient access to the real-time energy consumption data that can affect positive change, these tools can also be used in various ways to readily engage customers. These devices certainly add another cost component to the ROI equation, but it’s important to test these options while we’re in the early phases. Providing online tools and mobile applications of the same content and customer interaction capabilities should also be a part of these tests.

Social Media

No discussion of customer engagement should go without a thoughtful social media strategy. Social media’s open and decentralized nature often presents operational and cultural challenges for organizations. It is for this reason that utilities need leadership roles in ‘community building’ to develop their social outlets, integrate their strategy into all aspects of customer communication, educate internal and external audiences, experiment, innovate, and ultimately empower customers to talk about energy consumption in ways that are meaningful to the customer and the utility.

Low Tech

Not to be forgotten are all those folks who aren’t fully plugged into our highly connected world. They’re not on email all day, spending hours on Facebook, or using fancy iPhones and Blackberrys. They do however have regular cell phones with SMS capability and a snail-mailboxes. Utilities no doubt will need to pay attention to this important customer segment, leverage the ‘old reliable’ communication platforms, and also participate in community events. Utilities could start off by creating a simple, easy-to-read bill with a usage chart that families can place on their fridge every month.

What should we talk about?

As with the devices, applications, and social media tools themselves, the topic(s) of conversation are also open to experimentation. We should also recognize that customers will have increasingly more control over this discussion. Our goal is to provide simple concepts and messages that empower customers to take action, motivate others, and come up with their own ideas in support of those concepts. I’m a big believer in establishing simple goals and suggestions for meeting those goals.

 

In the case of introducing Demand Response programs or Time-of-Use (TOU) rates, it may serve utilities well to have sufficient, real-time historical consumption data to show customers what their bill “would look like” under a new proposed rate structure. Then providing simple suggestions that shift the usage of major appliances such as dishwashers and clothes washer and dryers to off-peak hours as a means to maintain or lower their current bill. Providing numerous outlets and support for further suggestions from the utility or from customers will help in engaging them further to achieve those goals.

 

A final note on experimentation. To the extent that we’re trying to avoid another Backersfield-style backlash (see Incident in Bakersfield), remember that it was the lack of communication that hurt PG&E and potentially the smart grid evolution at large. If change is coming, then it’s never too early to communicate. Imperfect and frequent communication is better than one perfectly worded brochure or letter that will get lost or tossed in no time. Social media is a great way to communicate early and often to see what resonates.