Dive Brief:

• Rocky Mountain Power achieved more than 41 GWh of home energy savings through Bidgely's AI-driven Home Energy Reports (HER) less than a year after introducing the program, Bidgely announced Wednesday.
• Using its non-smart meter disaggregation technology, the AI company was able to deliver the energy savings at an average cost of $0.04/kWh, which it says is 25% below the average cost of conventional HER savings.
• As utility customer service offerings become increasingly modern and personalized Bidgely says it is using machine learning to determine what appliances are in a home, how much energy they are using and how customers can save.

Dive Insight:

Rocky Mountain Power officials say they were looking to modernize their customer service offerings by switching away from "conventional" solutions. 

"We were searching for the next wave of customer engagement and a way to drive customers toward a digital, two-way dialogue with us," Clay Monroe, director of customer relations for Rocky Mountain Power, said in a statement.

Utility interest in data and service goes beyond customer satisfaction — behind the scenes, the new wave of solutions can be used to better market rates, services and programs, and potentially be utilized as a grid planning tool.

For instance, Bidgely recently partnered with EnergyHub, integrating its home energy management platform with EnergyHub's distributed energy resource management system. And energy management competitor Oracle has made improvements to its customer information systems as well, offering utilities the capabilities to improve operations and offerings with personalized customer insights, guided by behavioral science research led by Opower, which Oracle acquired in 2016.

Bidgely's AI reports allowed RMI "to quickly shift from conventional methods of reporting, using general peer comparisons, to true energy empowerment with itemized energy bills and personalized savings tips, while at the same time moving customers to digital reports," said Monroe.

Bidgely helped the utility replace its existing HER program in 2018. Approximately 330,000 customers across Utah, Idaho and Wyoming received itemized energy reports for the first time, the company said. More than half were moved to digital reports, and all of the utility's 1 million residential customers were given web dashboard access.

"This helped the utility reduce program costs by nearly 25% and drive digital engagement where customers experience a more robust, personalized offering to help them save energy," according to Bidgely, adding email open rates reached 38%.