Last month on the TechCentral TechRadio podcast, I spoke with tech journalist Niall Kitson about how Bidgely and Electric Ireland, Ireland’s largest energy retailer, are working together to bring greater value to Irish energy consumers and establish a strong competitive advantage in a region that vies for customer loyalty and satisfaction. Read on to learn more, and listen to the podcast here.
Electric Ireland is in the midst of a multi-year initiative to roll out 2.4 million next generation smart meters. Though that commitment to future-ready service is impressive, what really sets Electric Ireland apart is that they consider their smart meter program to be far greater than just an infrastructure investment: They also see it as an essential technology foundation to deliver a superior energy customer experience.
To realize the rich customer engagement value of their AMI data, Electric Ireland has put Bidgely’s UtilityAI to work to inform its customer-centric programs with appliance-level consumption insights derived from each home’s smart-meter-captured energy usage data. The energy retailer’s goal is to help customers “see their electricity in a whole new light” by more effectively managing their energy usage and carbon footprints, while enjoying an ongoing, hyper-personalised energy advisory relationship with the retailer. Thanks to this personalised customer engagement, customers will find it much easier to learn how they can benefit from this national smart meter rollout and how it can save them money.
Electric Ireland calls its Bidgely-enriched plans Home Electric+. The plans offer consumers:
- An end to bill surprises and estimated bills
- Bill prediction alerts to let customers know if they’re on track
- Insights into which appliances are using the most electricity
- Personalised usage insights delivered via each customer’s online account
- Regular reviews so customers know if they’re on the right plan
“Smart meters introduce new opportunities for Electric Ireland to create more customer value through personalised and engaging insights that reveal the details about how customers are using energy,” explains Susan Whyte, smart meter program manager at Electric Ireland. “Our pioneering use of established tools for maximising the value of customer data in Ireland is backed by Bidgely’s global track record of delivering increased customer engagement and satisfaction.”
Through email and web portal enhancements that personalise energy insights and educate customers on their individual usage, Electric Ireland is able to recommend the best price plans for each consumer. Electric Ireland can seamlessly integrate these insights to provide tailored content for generated email notifications and also add value to its residential web portal.
Electric Ireland promises to help Home Electric+ customers lower their bills and carbon footprints using rich electricity insights that help them understand what’s driving their electricity consumption. “By making small changes to your usage habits, you can start to use less and save more,” says the retailer. “That’s better for your pocket and better for the environment.”
From an operational perspective, personalized insights and proactive communication will allow energy retailer to reduce the number of incoming high-bill calls and help eliminate bill shock effects to reduce both churn and cost to serve.
They also point to the value of their data-driven customer plans to better align customers with the most beneficial time-of-use pricing.
As a first-mover in AI-powered data analytics in Europe, Electric Ireland stands to benefit from Bidgely’s higher-than-average industry engagement and satisfaction rates. As IDC said in its September 2020 Technology Spotlight, Customer Data is the New kWh.
For additional insight into how personalised energy insights are driving the new normal and global energy revolution in Europe, watch this session with research firms IDC and Delta-EE from Bidgely Engage Europe.
