March 24-27, 2025 | Dallas, Texas
Utilities are reimagining their customer experience.
Thanks to prosumer democratization, progressive regulations with sustainability and resilience at the core, the fusion of energy and digital technology, and the convergence of industry boundaries while navigating the energy transition.
Although the industry prioritizes customer experience, there remains a significant opportunity for enhancement. Research highlights that utilities in the US attained an average NPS of 8, notably 9 points beneath the overall average spanning 22 industries. According to a study conducted in the US, electric utilities faced a decline in overall satisfaction scores after the COVID-19 pandemic, attributable to a blend of increasing rates, insufficient communication, and a lack of transparency regarding corporate citizenship endeavors.
Sustainability presents a compelling avenue for change and innovation.
Within this sector, there exists substantial potential to curtail greenhouse gas emissions and strive toward achieving carbon neutrality, marking a pivotal step toward environmental responsibility. Utilities are taking on new roles and responsibilities that center around sustainability, encompassing initiatives like the electrification of mobility, the management of electric vehicle infrastructure, and the integration of customer-owned energy storage systems. For instance, an energy company in the US offers financial help to customers for purchasing home batteries and sharing the usage, while a leading Australian energy giant offers bill credits if customers share their solar battery energy. This transformation underscores that sustainability is a fundamental component of the utilities' energy transition journey, deeply embedded in their core objectives.
The integration of sustainability can also be a catalyst for forging new customer experiences. Utilities can engage with their customers in novel and meaningful ways by prioritizing sustainability and fostering a sense of shared environmental responsibility. This approach creates opportunities for utilities to connect with their consumers on a deeper level, ultimately leading to a more mutually beneficial relationship between companies and their customers.
As utilities worldwide focus on enhancing customer experiences through the lens of sustainability, the transformation is centered around three key themes: product, experience, and purpose. Let's explore the interplay between these themes and how utilities are reimagining their customer interactions.
The journey toward an improved customer experience begins with utilities defining sustainable products that align with their mission.
Here are some innovative product offerings that utilities are incorporating:
Managing the demand side with pricing and smart usage rewards: Utilities have been implementing dynamic pricing models such as time-of-use pricing (ToU), critical peak pricing (CPP), and real-time pricing (RTP) for several years now, allowing customers to consume energy more efficiently. Smart usage rewards incentivize consumers to make environmentally conscious choices. US-based energy company, Con Edison propagates a mobile app called GridRewards™ to provide cash incentives to reduce energy usage.
Green tariffs: Green tariffs enable customers to opt for renewable energy sources, reducing their carbon footprint. Green tariffs also play a pivotal role in accelerating the transition toward a greener and more environmentally responsible energy grid and aligning consumer choices with these goals. Suppliers who purchase renewable electricity along with its associated renewable electricity guarantee of origin (REGO) certificates from renewable generators offer green energy tariffs.
Community solar: Community solar is a popular form of shared renewables that allows customers to harness the power of solar energy even if they can't install panels on their properties, enabling clean energy adoption on a broader scale. In the US alone, there are over 1,600 community solar projects.
Once sustainable products are in place, utilities can further enhance the customer experience.
This entails introducing and creating new moments of truths for the customers by reinforcing sustainability throughout the customer journey:
Improve understanding: Utilities offer tools like the solar PV calculator, enabling customers to estimate potential savings and environmental benefits when transitioning to solar power.
Facilitate adoption: Electric vehicle (EV) adoption is on the rise. Utilities are simplifying the process by providing apps that help customers locate nearby charging stations, making EV ownership more accessible and sustainable.
Optimize usage: Utilities offer consumption benchmarking and advice, allowing customers to monitor and optimize their energy usage. This includes gamification among consumers around energy savings, rewarding the consumer for sustainable energy consumption.
Reduce charges: Utilities are introducing new ways to reduce charges to encourage sustainable behavior. For instance, a leading Australian energy retailer offers discounted rates for EV users who charge their vehicles after midnight. This not only promotes off-peak consumption but also supports the adoption of green transportation.
Reward customers: Initiatives such as bring your own storage (BYOS) and virtual power plant (VPP) encourage customers to employ consumer energy resources (CER) such as rooftop PV, EV, batteries, and pool pumps to connect to the grid and get rewarded.
The ultimate goal of utilities is to empower consumers to adopt a sustainable lifestyle and letting them integrate sustainability into their daily lives.
This can be done by way of:
Smart living: Utilities are creating connected home ecosystems that provide the 3Cs of convenience, control, and choice while maintaining a strong commitment to sustainability. We are also seeing the convergence of industry boundaries in smart homes where utilities can provide adjacent services such as healthcare monitoring.
Smart energy and new revenue: Innovative solutions like VPPs and BYOS empower consumers to become prosumers. They can actively contribute to the grid, helping utilities manage peak demand more effectively while generating additional revenue.
Smart transportation: With the rise of electric vehicles, utilities are stepping into the world of smart transportation. They offer subscription-based EV ecosystems that provide customers with hassle-free access to sustainable transportation options. This is in light of the EU and UK governments’ ban on diesel and petrol vehicles, which was recently pushed to a 2035 deadline.
The successful interplay between sustainability and customer experience in utilities can be attributed to several key factors.
We are also seeing the convergence of industry boundaries in smart homes where utilities can provide adjacent services such as healthcare monitoring.
Progressive regulations have been pivotal in fostering an environment that encourages and rewards sustainability initiatives. The proposed ban on sale of fossil fuel-run vehicles mentioned above, is a classic example. Additionally, establishing the right partner ecosystem is essential in enabling utilities to access expertise and resources that facilitate the integration of sustainability into their operations.
Today, utilities are partnering with technology companies to leverage AI and IoT solutions seamlessly to ensure better customer service and, ultimately, deliver on climate change priorities. As utilities increasingly prioritize environmental responsibility, these factors collectively contribute to an elevated customer experience.This is in light of the EU and UK governments’ ban on diesel and petrol vehicles, which was recently pushed to a 2035 deadline.
