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Report Explores Consumer Interest in Next-Generation Digital Energy Platforms and ProgramsATLANTA, Jan. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A broad base of U.S. energy consumers are interested in receiving energy-related information, analysis and recommendations through a digital platform, according to the latest research from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC).
This finding is one of many from the "Consumer Platform of the Future" report, a groundbreaking examination of emerging energy technologies developed from three research inputs: four consumer focus groups, 16 in-depth interviews with high-level energy industry executives and an online consumer survey with about 1,300 respondents. The research found that about half (49 percent) of U.S. energy consumers would probably or definitely use the "Platform", which, in the context of this research, is defined as an online energy resource that would combine energy usage data, user preference settings, real-time energy data, energy programs and offers and use this information to help the user understand and manage home energy use. Only four percent of consumers stated that they would definitely not" use the Platform. In the consumer survey, respondents were also asked about their interest in four potential products and services they could access through the Platform: an e-commerce marketplace stocked with energy-related products, an energy manager to help optimize home energy use, an online rewards program (with four ways to earn rewards tested) and a menu of add-on products and services that could be purchased at an extra cost. Almost two-thirds of survey respondents said that they would use at least one of these tools in the Platform, and about one-quarter said they would use all four. Of the four tools, the rewards program was most popular, at over 50 percent of respondents, and the most popular specific reward tested was the "solar host" program, which allows the utility to install solar panels on the consumer's rooftop for a monthly bill credit. An executive summary of the "Consumer Platform of the Future" report is available to the public at www.smartenergycc.org, and a full version of the report is available to members via their online logins and members of the media on request. A free webinar on the research findings will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 1 p.m. (ET). Jonathan Field
SOURCE Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative 
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