ORIGINAL REPORTING: Utilities Winning Customers In A More Distributed World

Winning in a more distributed energy world: 3 steps to utility success; A billion-dollar retail opportunity awaits utilities that turn reluctant customers into partners.

Herman K. Trabish, Feb. 12, 2019 (Utility Dive)

Editor’s note: Google and other marketing continue to demonstrate that utility use of new technologies can allow the power system to serve customers, the environment, and the climate.

In the U.S. power system's transformation, customers' traditional dependence on utilities is increasingly becoming a utility dependence on customers. This reversal is driven by diminishing electricity sales caused in part by the rising reliability and affordability of customer-owned distributed energy resources (DER) and energy efficiency technologies. Forward-thinking utilities see billions of dollars in potential new revenue streams in customer demand for these retail market products. But while vendors like Sunrun and Tesla are seeing increasing business with their home solar and storage products, utilities face the challenge of reluctant, or "selectively engaged," customers.

Over 40% of utility customers are considered selectively engaged because they are unlikely to respond to utilities' online and digital marketing, a January Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative report found. More engaged customers, motivated by environmental or pocketbook concerns, are increasingly responding to new and traditional forms of utility messaging.

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The utility industry is transforming from one that sells kWhs to one that needs to know what products and services its customers value. The monthly bill remains most customers' main contact with utilities, but most would like electricity providers to show them "choices that align with their personal priorities," an August 2018 SECC customer survey found. In response, many utilities are using new digital approaches to customer engagement.

Engaging customers at the retail level with products like smart thermostats and electric vehicle charging stations is expected to drive "at least one trillion dollars" of investment from utilities and other stakeholders in 2030, according to a July 2018 Navigant paper. This shift to retail could be "a billion-dollar market by 2030" for utilities and technology vendors. To get their share of that opportunity, utilities must overcome the reluctance of the selectively engaged by using personalized messaging that provides useful information and delivers customer benefits to take them on a journey that engages them… click here for more

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