Energy Apps: Good digital tools mean empowerment, not just for customers. A mini series.
Part 2 — Going beyond
Previously we went over the priorities that consumers expect from the digital interactions with their energy suppliers. Interactions that are often neglected. Here I go beyond the direct interaction to what can be done with data and how that benefits both customers and the business.
Series Intro: I talk about how strong brands can raise their standing with their customers by empowering them all the time. The Energy Sector is poised for rapid digital innovation.
There are three main areas of impact for consumer-based software innovation in the energy sector:
Brand elevation for energy companies via customer empowerment
Encourage short and long term changes through gamification, facilitating the gradual infrastructure updates dictated by green energy innovation
Richer data for improved predictions around supply, maintenance and development
Energy supply is being decentralised through investments into solar and wind, both at home and at scale. This involves changes in the grid infrastructure as well as shifts in consumer demands. The decision factors for customers to decide which supplier they choose have gotten more complex.
This three part series covers: (1) The neglected foundational needs of customers, (2) Genuine innovations for customer empowerment and (3) Blue sky ideas for the near-futurists.
User Data and Behaviour Nudges
Smart home data richness — While smart-home elements are relatively niche, even simple entries with humidity and temperature trackers could be utilised. For customers this can result in behavioural nudges for optimisations. But the wealth of data can provide knowledge for pricing, supply and service optimisation for energy companies.
Information about energy-creating measures such as solar — for customers who invested into solar panels (for heat or electricity) having a gamified and simple interface to understand the benefits is helpful. Beyond that, being able to take action based on information is useful and empowering and increases genuine engagement with the app and company. These can be prompts via push notification “the sun is shining, charge powerbank or your car?” or via pre-set automations. Energy providers aligning themselves with this type of empowerment increase their brand loyalty.
Optimisation advice based current local use — This can be affected by time of day, weather, supply or other events. Timely nudges and recommendations can facilitate savings while decreasing pressure on the grid. Bonus: customers could input their individual setup of insulation, type of heating etc. allowing for more specific recommendations. Tying these in to specific outcomes, such as “When your neighbours turned their thermostat down to 20C, they saved 7% on bills this winter.” Or “Temperatures outside are dropping to -15C tonight — turn down the thermostat by 1C and get an extra blanket?” The increased data from customers can be utilised by the company for deeper knowledge and analytics.
Live tracking notifications — For those who have set up live use tracking, they can get useful information. If gas is being used more heavily than normal for this time and the outside temperature doesn’t equate to higher use, maybe a window was left open? Or did someone forget to switch off the TV when we left and the electricity is going up (bonus if I can switch it off remotely). Thoughtful design to reduce any misfired notifications is needed, as an overwhelm on useless information will have the opposite effect. Done well, this is another form of customer-empowerment.
Smart Scheduling for Electric Vehicle Charging — not a new invention, but rarely done well. For EV adopters, driving is now the highest electricity expense. Optimising for inexpensive power is better for customers, the grid and the environment. Ensuring that it’s easy to set up automations is important (charge during low prices if I have variable pricing, or use solar when strong etc). Equally overriding these should be simple. Gamify in the end by showing savings (how many “free” miles did I gain).
Personalised energy-saving recommendations — tailored to each user's consumption patterns, household characteristics, and available technology (e.g., type of heating, presence of solar panels). This could include actionable steps and estimated savings, encouraging users to adopt more energy-efficient habits and investments. Besides that IoT sensors can measure temperature, light, humidity etc and automatically adjust heating, air conditioning and other devices accordingly. This valuable data can in turn allow energy companies to improve their offerings on many levels.
Peer comparisons and community challenges
Social benchmarking that allows users to compare their energy usage with similar households in their area. This can foster a sense of community and competition, motivating users to become more energy-efficient. It can also be a great tool to adjust grid-load when needed through social nudges.
Community energy-saving challenges with rewards for participation and achievement. This can leverage gamification to encourage collective action towards reducing energy consumption and carbon footprints.
Visualisation of carbon footprint related to energy consumption, providing users with a tangible sense of their environmental impact. This feature could also suggest specific actions to reduce their carbon footprint, aligning with broader environmental goals.
Improved customer service — improved UX allows for a huge increase in self-service solutions. Sometimes you still need to interact in more detail. Applying well trained AI that has access to a database of all past communications, guidelines and real time data together with real human interaction has the potential to vastly increase the customer service experience. For both sides.
In the next and final part of this series, we dive into blue sky innovations that can elevate providers in this space to a completely different cultural perception. But only if the basics from Part 1 are covered adequately!