TMCnet News
OPOWER Unveils Heating Disaggregation Feature; Showcases Analytics Capability for Puget Sound Energy CustomersARLINGTON, Va. --(Business Wire)-- OPOWER, the energy efficiency and smart grid software company, today announced the release of a significant new enhancement to its energy efficiency Web portal, allowing customers to see what portion of their energy use can be attributed to home heating. Customers participating in Puget Sound Energy's energy reporting program will be the first in the nation to be able to view their heating use reported separately from their total energy use. Space heating is the largest use of energy in the home, and the OPOWER Web portal now highlights how much of an individual customers' energy use is related to heating and how that compares to their neighbors. The portal also provides customized energy-saving tips to help customers increase their energy efficiency, even during cold winter weather. OPOWER's ability to disaggregate heating usage from overall use is one-of-a-kind in the industry, and it does so based on daily meter reads coming from PSE electric and natural gas meters, without any additional devices inside the home. "The OPOWER platform is known for its analytics capabilities, as well as its ability to reach and motivate our customers through their unique, multi-channel approach," said Todd Starnes, manager of Residential Energy Management for PSE. "We have been working with OPOWER for over a year now, and they have helped us deliver impressive results in terms of measurable energy savings to our customers in the pilot program. The combination of analytical tools and mailed energy reports is the right recipe for success, and OPOWER's ability to do both is unique in the industry." OPOWER's Insight Engine, an analytical software engine that sits behind all of its products, uses patent-pending, statistical algorithms to evaluate customers' energy usage patterns and pulls out key sources of high energy use inside the home - in the case of PSE, energy used on heating the house. It then combines this data with customer segmentation analysis to provide customers with energy savings tips that match both their past energy usage patterns and their ability to act on them. The analysis and tips are communicated to the customers both online and through OPOWER's nationally-acclaimed paper Home Energy Reports. "We're excited to deepen our relationship with PSE by rolling out the next generation of our Web platform to their customers, delivering on our commitment to PSE to continue bringing features that are of very high-value," said Dan Yates, CEO of OPOWER. "With up to 85 percent of customers who receive the Home Energy Reports actively engaging through them, we expect the delivery of new insights about winter energy use to be well-received by the PSE customers participating in the program, and we hope to help them save on their bills this winter." PSE is one of the first utilities in the country to deploy OPOWER's Home Energy Reporting system, the nation's leading energy efficiency platform proven to help customers receiving the reports realize significant energy savings. With almost half a million reports delivered to date, PSE continues to be a leader in proactive customer engagement and remains firmly committed to helping customers better understand how to save energy, lower their bills and protect the environment. About OPOWER OPOWER is an industry leader in Energy Efficiency and Smart Grid software that has successfully converted large-scale customer engagement into a highly reliable energy efficiency program that delivers unprecedented energy savings to its utility partners. Using cutting edge behavioral science and patent-pending data analytics, the OPOWER platform enables utilities to connect with their customers in a highly targeted fashion, motivating reductions in energy use, increased program participation and overall customer satisfaction. Six of the ten largest utilities in the United States use OPOWER to significantly improve the effectiveness of their energy efficiency portfolios. For utilities with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), the OPOWER platform represents a cost-effective way to convert hourly data into measureable peak and overall savings, delivering the value of the Smart Grid directly to their customers. Founded in 2007 and privately held, OPOWER is headquartered in Arlington, VA. For more information, please visit www.opower.com. About Puget Sound Energy Washington State's oldest local energy utility, Puget Sound Energy serves more than 1 million electric customers and nearly 750,000 natural gas customers in 11 counties. A subsidiary of Puget Energy, PSE meets the energy needs of its growing customer base through incremental, cost-effective energy conservation, procurement of sustainable energy resources, and far-sighted investment in the energy-delivery infrastructure. PSE employees are dedicated to providing great customer service and delivering energy that is safe, reliable, reasonably priced, and environmentally responsible. For more information, visit www.PSE.com. Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6122937&lang=en |
