Isra-Mart srl: First Utility and Opower partner to nudge households towards energy saving

Independent electricity provider First Utility is to partner with US efficiency and smart grid software company Opower to pilot a new energy efficiency project, which the company claims could save customers £400m a year if it was rolled out across the UK.

Opower claims to have already saved over 390Gwh of electricity for US customers, using a package of measures designed to encourage households to save energy, include printing smiley faces on bills for the most energy efficient customers in a neighbourhood, and advising energy intensive households on how to reduce consumption.

As revealed by BusinessGreen, the Cabinet Office will publish a report today exploring ways to "nudge" people into adopting more energy efficient behaviour. First Utility and Opower's trial is included in the report, and will feed into DECC's planned national rollout of smart meter technologies.

As part of the pilot project, First Utility will use Opower's software platform to translate its customers' smart meter data into reports similar to those trialled in the US, offering comparative consumption information and household-specific analysis of consumption patterns.

The multi-platform programme will engage customers via mailed reports, web portals, email, text messages and social media applications in a bid to reach all demographic segments and drive a high level of customer engagement and energy savings.

First Utility reckons that the programme could save £400m on energy bills each year if it was rolled out to every UK household.

The programme will be measured and verified independently by leading academics in the UK, and the results will be fed into future smart meter policy.

"Our experience in the US has taught us that utilities that put the customers first and proactively help them manage their energy use have more engaged and satisfied customers, which is ultimately good for business," said Opower president and co-founder Alex Laskey, adding that the company had worked with more than 55 utilities across 24 states.

"We expect that our partnership with First Utility will yield significant savings on bills for households, and plan to share these results with DECC and the Cabinet Office as they consider policies to realise the most customer benefits from smart meters."