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Energy Information Services for Small and Midsize Businesses
E SOURCE, June 2004, Pages: 22
Energy information services (EIS) encompass a number of products and services designed to help customers save money on utility bills, including information on how they use energy in their facilities, options for reducing energy usage and energy costs, and bill auditing and verification. Utilities use EIS as a customer service or as a value-added service for their customers.
The range of EIS provided by utilities is wide and addresses every type of customer, from residential to large commercial and industrial (LC&I). These tools include everything from simple bill histories, online audits, and general efficiency recommendations designed for residential and small businesses to interval metering and meter data analysis tools for the largest energy users. This report focuses on the online services utilities offer small and midsize businesses (SMBs) that are using utility billing data or the customers facility specifications.
Although the majority of SMBs are not likely to have interval meters or to be able to utilize such highly detailed energy information, it would be a mistake to think that there are no opportunities for advanced metering services below the key account or LC&I level. Some utilities that are marketing advanced EIS have received positive responses from property management companies, retail chains, and even individual facilities that can take advantage of the system on a temporary or limited basis. This kind of market segmentation is an important exercise, not only to find the customers who are willing to pay for advanced services, but also to effectively market free, lower-level services to small businesses, who are the majority of business customers.
Several utilities are successfully providing energy information services to various types of small businesses. We examine these offerings, look at how they are targeted and marketed, and evaluate their success.
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