How To Reduce Power Usage Using Proactive Outbound Communications

  

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The peak of the summer season is upon us and with it comes peak demands for energy to cool our homes and buildings. Several utilities are reporting record energy usage. Check out this story from ConEd. Here are three best practice tips we recommend to our utility clients:

1. Proactive Customer Communications: Use IVR technology & automation to reach out to customers, asking them to reduce their power usage. It follows the old “if you don’t ask you don’t get” theory. The calls can be crafted to take less than 30 seconds and simply ask customers to reduce their power consumption during peak usage hours of the day or evening.
2. Communicate To All Channels:   Talk to customers using their preferred device. It seems like everybody has a cell or smart phone. And yes lots of people still have landlines. So send your power curtailment message to every device you can. TFCC lets you easily reach a large number of customers, very quickly, using any communication device. Talk about effective and efficient.
3. Hit The Hot Spots: Send your proactive customer communications only to those areas most affected by the heat. Target calling also lets the utility rotate areas so that the request isn’t made of the same consumers time after time.

I live in an area 35 miles outside the closest city and am served by an electric cooperative. In my case, the co-op elects to purchase drive time radio spots during peak usage periods to make the announcement. These messages, while well scripted, reach a far wider audience than the co-op serves. In addition, since not everyone listens to my favorite station, the media buy has to include several stations.  This is an example of how proactive outbound communications would be more targeted and less expensive with a simple phone call.