According to EnergyAustralia Group Executive Manager of Retail, Adrian Merrick, the free service – using software (MyEnergyReport) developed by US-based global energy efficiency software company Opower - will help customers and communities ”better understand their energy usage and would inform them how to implement more efficient solutions within their homes.”
Merrick Based claims that, on average consumption and tariffs, if the average Australian family was to adopt even five of the tool’s simple tips, they would cut more than $330 from their annual energy bill.
“If enough people use the free service, MyEnergyReport has the potential to save 770 GWh of electricity in just one year, which is at least enough to power all the homes in both Ballarat and Bendigo for a whole year.
{loadposition}“While the technology is incredibly smart, at its core, MyEnergyReport is based on the simplest and most traditional of local community principles – keeping up with the Joneses. Putting friendly neighbourhood rivalry to good use, MyEnergyReport has the potential to save Australian families millions of dollars as well as help the environment.”
MyEnergyReport is free to EnergyAustralia residential customers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, and South Australia, and does not rely on customers having a smart meter.
Based on take-up figures in the United States, Merrick said EnergyAustralia expected up to 85 per cent of its customers would change their energy use behaviour once they started using the technology.
Merrick said the tool had already helped utility customers in the US and UK save more than US$167 million on their energy bills.
Opower’s technology is based on a major behavioural study that found customers’ innate competitiveness with their peers and neighbours motivates them to make changes to their energy usage.
According to Opower President and Founder, Alex Laskey, the platform helped customers save energy and money. “We are excited to partner with EnergyAustralia to bring this leading customer engagement platform for utilities to a retail energy provider that is committed to providing insight and energy efficiency savings to millions of its customers.”
Laskey said the company currently partnered with more than 75 energy providers in six countries, reaching more than 14 million homes to provide them “insight and information about their energy consumption.”
“Opower’s methodology and results have been independently verified by leading industry analysts and non-profit organisations as well as by established academics from several leading institutions.”
Claim that new technology will help energy users save millions
Energy company, Energy Australia, is claiming potential savings of $253 million a year on their energy bills for residential energy customers in the eastern states following the launch of new software which uses a combination of leading technology and behavioural science to drive “large-scale savings”.
RECRUITMENT & RETENTION REPORT 2013
HIRE OR FIRE? BUY OR BUILD2013 is well underway and Australian companies need to know whether they should invest in IT skills training or pay a premium for the people they need.
If you want to know which choices are being made in your sector, what skills are hard to find, which sectors intend to hire or fire and where the IT spend is going, this free report is must have.
Peter Dinham
Peter Dinham is a co-founder of iTWire and a 35-year veteran journalist and corporate communications consultant. He has worked as a journalist in all forms of media – newspapers/magazines, radio, television, press agency and now, online – including with the Canberra Times, The Examiner (Tasmania), the ABC and AAP-Reuters. As a freelance journalist he also had articles published in Australian and overseas magazines. He worked in the corporate communications/public relations sector, in-house with an airline, and as a senior executive in Australia of the world’s largest communications consultancy, Burson-Marsteller. He also ran his own communications consultancy and was a co-founder in Australia of the global photographic agency, the Image Bank (now Getty Images).
