SEVEN WAYS TO A USER-FRIENDLY SMART GRID

Seven Simple Strategies For Smart Grid Engagement

Patty Durand, 27 March 2013 (Renew Grid)

“…Finding the right approach to [to adequately engage, educate and understand consumers] is particularly critical for utilities that are pursuing advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) deployments… Smart Grid Customer Engagement Success Stories spotlights the strategies and tactics employed by four energy utilities in the U.S. - CenterPoint Energy, Oklahoma Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison - to successfully engage customers about the benefits of the smart grid, smart meters, demand response and other enabling technology and devices for home energy management.

“First, these utilities have deployed their smart meter programs across their service area…not just running pilot programs. Second, these utilities had evidence that strategic engagement through education and outreach programs engaged consumers in using the available smart grid technology. Finally, these utilities have documented authentic customer testimonials articulating the benefits…”

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“…[S]even successful customer engagement principles…[include] Educate customers before deployment…Anticipate and answer questions before customers ask them…Facilitate community engagement…Communicate ways to save via signing up for time-based prices and shifting usage off-peak…Deploy a user-friendly and information-rich web portal…Offer user-friendly smart grid-enabled technology, such as smart thermostats…[and] Create authentic customer testimonials…

“As consumers become more educated about smart grid and smart meters and have access to more information such as pricing and automation applications, their knowledge and favorability grows…”

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